awake

The word “awake” means not asleep; conscious. In plain terms, being conscious rather than asleep — or the act of waking up.

“Awake” is pronounced uh-WAYK (/əˈweɪk/ in IPA).

Here is “awake” used in a sentence: “The baby was still awake at midnight.”

Words with a similar meaning to “awake” include alert, caffeinated, conscious, invigorated, invigorating and lively.

The opposite of “awake” — its antonyms — are asleep and unconscious.

Depending on how it is used, “awake” can be an adjective and a verb.

The word “awake” comes from Middle English. From Middle English awake, a shortened form of awaken.

“Awake” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

"Awake" is most often an adjective meaning not asleep ("I was awake all night"), though it can also be a verb. "Wake" is the everyday verb for stopping sleeping or rousing someone ("wake me at seven"), and it is far more common than the verb use of "awake".

Both can act as verbs meaning to stop sleeping or to rouse someone, but "awaken" sounds more formal or literary. "Awake" is also commonly used as an adjective meaning conscious, whereas "awaken" is only a verb.

The verb "awake" is irregular: the simple past is usually "awoke" and the past participle is "awoken" ("I awoke early"; "I had awoken"). The regular forms "awaked" exist but sound old-fashioned and are rarely used today.

"Awake" means not asleep or conscious in the physical sense, while "aware" means having knowledge or perception of something. You can be awake without being aware of a particular fact, and the two words are not interchangeable.