awake

verb

\ ə-ˈwāk

awoke\ -ˈwōk

\ also awaked\ -ˈwākt

\; awoken\ -ˈwō-kən

\ also awaked or awoke; awaking

Definition of awake

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to cease sleeping : to wake up She awoke late that morning. The next day we awoke to the sound of drums.— Sarah Ferrell

2 : to become aroused or active again when the volcano awoke

3 : to become conscious or aware of something awoke to the possibilities At the same time, Italian prosecutors awoke to the international magnitude of their Sicilian underworld …— Selwyn Raab

transitive verb

1 : to arouse from sleep or a sleeplike state He was awoken by the storm.

2 : to make active : to stir up an experience that awoke old memories

awake

adjective

Definition of awake (Entry 2 of 2)

: fully conscious, alert, and aware : not asleep I'm so tired I can barely stay awake.

Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym The Past Tense Forms of Awake and Awaken More Example Sentences Learn More about awake

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Synonyms & Antonyms for awake

Synonyms: Verb

arouse, awaken, knock up [British], rouse, wake, waken

Synonyms: Adjective

insomniac, sleepless, wakeful, wide-awake

Antonyms: Verb

lull

Antonyms: Adjective

asleep, dormant, dozing, napping, resting, sleeping, slumbering, unawakened

Choose the Right Synonym for awake

Adjective

aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, alive, awake mean having knowledge of something. aware implies vigilance in observing or alertness in drawing inferences from what one experiences. aware of changes in climate cognizant implies having special or certain knowledge as from firsthand sources. not fully cognizant of the facts conscious implies that one is focusing one's attention on something or is even preoccupied by it. conscious that my heart was pounding sensible implies direct or intuitive perceiving especially of intangibles or of emotional states or qualities. sensible of a teacher's influence alive adds to sensible the implication of acute sensitivity to something. alive to the thrill of danger awake implies that one has become alive to something and is on the alert. a country always awake to the threat of invasion

The Past Tense Forms of Awake and Awaken

Verb

Awake and awaken are two distinct verbs that mean the same thing. In other words, they're synonyms, and in the present tense they each behave the way English verbs typically behave:

The cat awakes at dawn.

The cat awakens at dawn.

Things get trickier in the past tense.

Our modern verb awake is the result of the long-ago melding of two older verbs. These verbs were very similar, but one had regular past tense forms (like play: played, has played) and the other had irregular past tense forms (like take: took, has taken).

When the two verbs melded into the modern awake (which was a process over many years), things got complicated, resulting ultimately in the following grammatically permissible sentences:

The cat awaked at dawn.

The cat awoke at dawn.

The cat was awaked by the mouse at dawn.

The cat was awoken by the mouse at dawn.

Note, though, that at this point, these are the most common:

The cat awoke at dawn.

The cat was awoken by the mouse at dawn.

That's the story of awake. Fortunately awaken (which was originally one of the past tense forms of awake) is simpler. It's a regular verb, which means it has the usual past tense forms:

The cat awakened at dawn.

The cat was awakened at dawn by a mouse.

As if all this weren't complicated enough, awake is also an adjective:

Because of the cat, I too am now awake.

For a detailed discussion of the history of these words, please see the The Grammatical History of 'Awaken' / 'Awoken' / 'Awakened'.

Examples of awake in a Sentence

Verb

She fell asleep immediately but awoke an hour later. I awoke several times during the night. The baby awoke from his nap. The alarm awoke me early. They were awoken by a loud bang.

Adjective

Drinking coffee keeps him awake. I am so tired I can barely stay awake. She was lying awake, tossing and turning. One moment she was sleeping soundly—the next she was wide awake.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Jonathan Reyes, 22, was taken into custody Monday after the baby’s mother awoke from a nap to find the infant with visible injuries to his face and body, said Cpl. — Los Angeles Times, "Father arrested after 13-day-old baby was savagely beaten and drugged, police say," 22 Aug. 2019 Her father, a college journalism instructor named Claude Snelling, awoke and spotted her through his kitchen window. — Tribune News Service, oregonlive.com, "The Man in the Window: First the burglaries; then the dogs started dying (Part Two)," 22 June 2019 Finally, after six weeks and 48 games, the country awoke to a competition that had been happening in its very own backyard. — James Masters, CNN, "England vs. New Zealand: World Cup final on national TV offers chance to inspire a generation," 13 July 2019 After consuming alcohol and falling asleep, the man awoke the next morning to find the money missing from his pocket. — Jennifer James, Houston Chronicle, "Burglary suspect injured in crash after police pursuit," 3 July 2019 Early in the morning on July 17, 2004, a phone call awoke Ayanna. — J. Brady Mccollough, latimes.com, "USC’s Kevin Porter Jr. chases NBA dream to honor a father he barely knew," 16 June 2019 McPhee awoke early, ate a healthy breakfast and stretched. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "How the Roster Decisions of Golden Knights GM George McPhee Color the Stanley Cup Final," 28 May 2018 The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. — Kate Dicamillo, Time, "Why Children’s Books Should Be a Little Sad," 12 Jan. 2018 Gifford Pinchot era—when the major national park and forest areas were set aside for public use—suddenly awoke to find a new force at work. — Hubert H. (hubert Horatio) Humphrey, Harper's magazine, "Into the Woods," 10 June 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Independent organoids are not in my view going to be a little awake or slightly alert. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Human mini-brains made from stem cells make mini brain waves," 30 Aug. 2019 In the cute snapshot, Schumer and Gene are lounging on a couch together, their eyes closed, as the family pup Tati looks at the camera — the only one wide awake. — Jen Juneau, PEOPLE.com, "Amy Schumer Marks Going 'Back to Work' with Sleepy Snapshot Alongside Son Gene, 3 Months," 28 Aug. 2019 The coffee machine in the guard’s area was dry and cold, suggesting that no coffee was consumed last night, which in turn suggests that the guards were not awake, by either choice or indifference. — Rob Long, National Review, "From The Adventures of Donald J. Trump, Private Detective," 22 Aug. 2019 But a few hours later, while Maleficent dozed on a divan, wings folded as tightly against her back as a bird’s, Aurora was still wide-awake. — David Canfield, EW.com, "Exclusive: Get a first look at Holly Black's original Maleficent novel," 7 Aug. 2019 The hippocampal fireworks that dominate nap time also happen frequently in animals that are awake but idling and inattentive, or on the cusp of a decision, or exploring a new environment. — Quanta Magazine, "In Brain’s Electrical Ripples, Markers for Memories Appear," 6 Aug. 2019 But there were so many other days when my instinct startled awake. — Margaret Wappler, Orange County Register, "First Person: Finding solace and security amid the beauty of Laguna Beach," 27 July 2019 There are a few considerations for the study, including its small samples size and the fact that the researchers don't know if the blood pressure readings happened when the astronauts were awake or asleep. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Exercise in space keeps astronauts from fainting when they return to Earth, study says," 19 July 2019 Phillips fired beanbag rounds, and the other four officers fired their rifles at Pawlik, who was lying on the ground between two houses and stirring awake as the officers shouted commands at him. — Sukey Lewis, The Mercury News, "Oakland police monitor and police-commission calls for firing of five officers in Joshua Pawlik shooting," 18 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'awake.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

awake

Definition of awake

Synonyms & Antonyms for awake

Choose the Right Synonym for awake

The Past Tense Forms of Awake and Awaken

Examples of awake in a Sentence

First Known Use of awake

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