awake

1 of 2

verb

ə-ˈwāk

awoke ə-ˈwōk

also awaked ə-ˈwākt

; awoken ə-ˈwō-kən

also awaked or awoke; awaking

Synonyms of awake next

intransitive verb

: to cease sleeping : to wake up

She awoke late that morning.

The next day we awoke to the sound of drums.—

Sarah Ferrell

: to become aroused or active again

when the volcano awoke

: 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

: to arouse from sleep or a sleeplike state

He was awoken by the storm.

: to make active : to stir up

an experience that awoke old memories

awake

2 of 2

adjective

: fully conscious, alert, and aware : not asleep

I'm so tired I can barely stay awake.

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The Past Tense Forms of Awake and Awaken

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'.

Choose the Right Synonym for awake

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

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Verb

The woman, who has not been identified by police, was awoken by another family member who saw two men breaking into the car parked in front of her house, police said. —

Lauren Penington, The Denver Post, 22 Oct. 2024 Days later, Patterson awoke from his coma and ultimately survived his infection. —

Jess Craig, Vox, 1 Oct. 2024

Adjective

But that isn’t to say jolting awake shortly after turning out the lights is cause to schedule an MRI scan. —

Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 13 Nov. 2024 Here Catherine is again, unable to stay awake and protect her son. —

Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for awake

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Adjective

Middle English awaken (from Old English awacan, onwacan, from a- entry 1, on + wacan to awake) & awakien, from Old English awacian, from a- entry 1 + wacian to be awake — more at wake

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of awake was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Awake.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/awake. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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Kids Definition

awake

1 of 2 verb

ə-ˈwāk

awoke -ˈwōk

also awaked -ˈwākt

; awoken -ˈwō-kən

or awaked also awoke; awaking

: to arouse from sleep : wake up

: to become aware of something

awoke to their danger

: to make or become active : stir

awoke old memories

awake

2 of 2 adjective

: not sleeping

: alert entry 1 sense 1a

Last Updated: 17 Nov 2024 - Updated example sentences

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awake

verb

adjective

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Synonyms

Examples of awake in a Sentence

Word History

Dictionary Entries Near awake

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition