Meaning & use

awake

adjective·Everyday

Not sleeping; in a state of active consciousness.

See it in a sentence

The baby stayed awake for hours despite everyone's efforts to settle her.

He lay awake all night worrying about the exam results.

A note on using this word

Awake is typically used after a linking verb, as in 'she is awake', rather than directly before a noun.

Words with a similar meaning

consciousalert

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

asleep

Another way to use it

2. verb

To stop sleeping, or to cause someone to stop sleeping.

Loud thunder can awake even the soundest sleeper.

Make it your own

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