wake 1 of 2

noun

Definition of wakenext
as in consciousness

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

wake

2 of 2

verb

ˈwāk How to pronounce wake (audio)
1
as in to awaken
to cause to stop sleeping my banging around in the kitchen woke my wife

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to awake
to cease to be asleep I woke with a start when the door slammed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to warn
to give notice to beforehand especially of danger or risk a public service announcement designed to wake people to the dangers of aggressive driving

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of wake
Noun
News comes in the wake of another milestone in the 31-year-old’s fledgling career when he was invited to join the 79th Cannes main competition jury last May. — Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 3 July 2026 The White House wasn't the only casualty caught in ID4's wake, though, as another renowned filmmaker's sci-fi flick took a beating at the box office. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 3 July 2026
Verb
The country is finally waking to the comedown Vance predicted. — Peter Wehner, The Atlantic, 4 July 2026 And, on Friday, thousands in Australia will wake and gather, before dawn, to watch the Socceroos play Egypt in the round of thirty-two. — Naaman Zhou, New Yorker, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for wake
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wake
  1. consciousness
  2. awaken
  3. awake
  4. warn
  5. wakefulness
  6. rouse
  7. alert
Noun
  • Guthrie died in 1967 at age 55, but his music has never faded from the American consciousness.
    — Steve Appleford, Rolling Stone, 4 July 2026
  • The search for machine consciousness has gone mainstream, and companies such as Google, Meta and OpenAI are hiring philosophers to explore questions about AI welfare.
    — Benjamin Guggenheim, Washington Post, 2 July 2026
Definition of consciousness
Verb
  • Badly wounded in a battle of revenge, Robin Hood is brought to a priory and tended by Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), whose generosity awakens his finer feelings and spurs him to virtuous, self-sacrificing action.
    — Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 26 June 2026
  • Once your makeup is removed and your face is cleansed, add a hydrating cream like the All About Eyes Lightweight Eye Cream, then use the De-Puffing Eye Roller in the morning to awaken and brighten your eyes for the day.
    — Caley Sturgill, Southern Living, 26 June 2026
Definition of awaken
Verb
  • By the time the game ended, Sasaki’s three-inning start seemed like a murky nightmare the Dodgers awoke from in a sweat.
    — Liana Handler Follow, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • Not obsessed One Wish Willow Nikki, but actual Nikki, now awoken from her curse when Bear dies.
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
Definition of awake
Verb
  • The organization warned that as search-and-rescue teams begin to scale back operations, humanitarian needs—particularly food, medical care and protection services—could intensify rather than diminish.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 3 July 2026
  • Avila's family sued Tesla last week, alleging her death resulted from the company's gross negligence and failure to warn consumers that its self-driving systems were defective.
    — Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 3 July 2026
Definition of warn
Noun
  • The clinical data demonstrated significant improvements in wakefulness and reductions in excessive daytime sleepiness at week eight, outperforming the placebo with a generally favorable safety profile.
    — Sasirekha Subramanian, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
  • Night after night of lying there frustrated, anxious, wide awake, calculating how few hours remain, and the bed slowly becomes a cue for wakefulness and worry instead of sleep.
    — Sharon Brandwein, USA Today, 27 June 2026
Definition of wakefulness
Verb
  • Rhaenyra is at her happiest finally facing the hungry people of King’s Landing, giving a rousing speech before passing out bread and fruit and grain and other sundries to the smallfolk.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 6 July 2026
  • The film culminates in the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755, where Washington steps up and delivers a rousing speech to the British army despite their defeat.
    — Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 3 July 2026
Definition of rouse
Verb
  • New York’s emergency notification system also alerted residents Tuesday morning of potential traffic delays in the area and urged people to use alternate routes.
    — Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026
  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump had alerted Congress Wednesday of the administration’s intent to rescind Syria’s designation following a 45-day period -- the amount of time required for congressional review.
    — Mariam Khan, ABC News, 8 July 2026
Definition of alert

Browse Nearby Words

waiving
wake
wakeful
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wake.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wake. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on wake

Nglish: Translation of wake for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about wake

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All