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PlainSpell

awake

/əˈweɪk/adjective, verb

awake is spelled A-W-A-K-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, awake means “Not asleep; conscious” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in awake?

Letters5: A-W-A-K-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is awake?

Awake appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce awake?

  • /əˈweɪk/
  • Canada /əˈweːk/
  • [əˈweːk]

Awake has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-awake.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of awake

  • more awake comparative
  • most awake superlative
  • awakes present, singular, he/she/it
  • awaking participle, present
  • awoke past, participle, rare
  • awaked past, rare, participle
  • awoken participle, past
  • awaken participle, past, rare

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does awake mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Not asleep; conscious.

  2. 2

    Alert, aware.

    They were awake to the possibility of a decline in sales.

verb

  1. 1

    To become conscious after having slept.

  2. 2

    To cause (somebody) to stop sleeping.

  3. 3

    To make aware of something.

  4. 4

    To excite or to stir up something latent.

  5. 5

    To rouse from a state of inaction or dormancy.

  6. 6

    To come out of a state of inaction or dormancy.

  7. 7

    Used in a phrasal verb: to awake to (“to become awake of something and its possibile effects or results.”).

    It took her some time to awake to the dangers of her situation.

  8. 8

    Used in a phrasal verb: to awake to (“to be roused from one's sleep, due to a noise or other stimulus.”).

    this morning, I awoke to the sound of my neighbor's barking dog.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Awake in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchéveillé, réveillé (conscious), se réveiller (to gain consciousness), réveiller, éveiller (to cause someone to stop sleeping)
Germanwach (conscious), aufwachen, erwachen (to gain consciousness), aufwecken (to cause someone to stop sleeping), erwecken (to excite something latent)
Portuguesedesperto, acordado (conscious), acordar, despertar (to gain consciousness)
Spanishdespierto, desvelado, vigil (conscious), despertarse (to gain consciousness), despertar (to cause someone to stop sleeping), listo (alert, aware)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does awake come from?

From Middle English awake, a shortened form of awaken (“awakened, awake”), past participle of Middle English awaken (“to awaken”). See verb below. Compare Saterland Frisian woak (“awake”), German Low German waak (“awake”), German wach (“awake”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after awake