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awake

verb · adjective

Simple meaning

To become conscious after having slept.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhwayk

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈweɪk

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. intransitive

    To become conscious after having slept.

  2. transitive

    To cause (somebody) to stop sleeping.

  3. transitive

    To make aware of something.

  4. transitive

    To excite or to stir up something latent.

  5. transitivefigurative

    To rouse from a state of inaction or dormancy.

  6. intransitivefigurative

    To come out of a state of inaction or dormancy.

adjective

  1. Not in a state of sleep; completely conscious

    “Lay awake thinking about his new job.”

  2. Not asleep; conscious.

  3. figurativeby extension

    Alert, aware.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To become conscious after having slept.

Used this way, awake is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use awake

  • “Lay awake thinking about his new job.”adjective

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

fully awakelying awakeawake now

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • lie awakeverbCompound term

    Lie without sleeping.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • awakenverbRelated term

    Cause to become awake or conscious.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: to become conscious after having slept

drop off

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.