Woke Meaning

/wəʊk/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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adjAwake: conscious and not asleep.

adjAlert, aware of what is going on, or well-informed, especially of racial and other social justice issues.

When I woke up, I was sad.
What woke you up?
The baby woke up in the middle of the night.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
At dawn, the loud alarm clock ____ everyone in the house from their deep sleep.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I ____ up early this morning to watch the sunrise over the beautiful blue mountains on the other side today.

Shortened from woken or woken up, or derived from dialectal use of woke (past participle of wake). The sense of being aware of social injustice dates to at least the 1930s. The derogatory use has been most commonly used as of the 2020s.

"Waking up is a damn sight harder than going to sleep, but we’ll stay woke up longer." — 1942, J. Saunders Redding, “Negro Digest”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 1:
"If You’re Woke You Dig It [title]" — 1962 May 20, William Melvin Kelley, “If You’re Woke You Dig It”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 45:
"I been sleeping all my life. And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, I’m gon stay woke. And I’m gon help him wake up other black folk." — 1972, Barry Beckham, Garvey Lives!:
"What if there was no niccas / Only master teachers? / I stay woke (dreams dreams)" — 2008, Erykah Badu, “Master Teacher”, in New Amerykah Part One (4th World War):
"[…] stay woke[,] people of color, / let us occupy this dissent" — 2014, Lynn Sweeting, WomanSpeak, A Journal of Writing and Art by Caribbean Women, volume 7:

Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words

CEFR Practice Quiz
At dawn, the loud alarm clock ____ everyone in the house from their deep sleep.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I ____ up early this morning to watch the sunrise over the beautiful blue mountains on the other side today.

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