wake

/ˈweɪ̯k/verb, noun

wake is spelled W-A-K-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 58 times per million words in written English, the 1,793rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, wake means “(often followed by up) To stop sleeping” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in wake?

Letters	4: W-A-K-E
Syllables	1
In writing	58 times per million words; the 1,793rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Same letters	weak weka

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is wake?

Wake appears 58 times per million words in written English, the 1,793rd most frequent word form in the list.

wake0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

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

How do you pronounce wake?

/ˈweɪ̯k/
[ˈweɪ̯k]
/ˈweːk/

Wake has one syllable.

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

What rhymes with wake?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as wake.

Spelled with the same letters in another order: weak, weka.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of wake

wakes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
waking participle, present
woke past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
waked past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural
woken participle, past

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

What does wake mean?

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

verb

1
(often followed by up) To stop sleeping.
I woke up at four o'clock this morning.
2
(often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.
The neighbour's car alarm woke me from a strange dream.
3
To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.
4
To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
5
To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.
6
To be or remain awake; not to sleep.
, Book II, Chapter I I cannot think any time, waking or sleeping, without being sensible of it.
7
obsoleteTo be alert; to keep watch
Command unto the guards that they diligently wake.
8
obsoleteTo sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.

noun

1
A period after a person's death before or after the body is buried, cremated, etc.; in some cultures accompanied by a party or collectively sorting through the deceased's personal effects.
Where any person has died whilst being, or suspected of being, a case or carrier or contact of an infectious disease, the Director may by order prohibit the conduct of a wake over the body of that person or impose such conditions as he thin
2
The state of forbearing sleep, especially for solemn or festive purposes; a vigil.
3
A yearly parish festival formerly held in commemoration of the dedication of a church. Originally, prayers were said on the evening preceding, and hymns were sung during the night, in the church; subsequently, these vigils were discontinued, and the day itself, often with succeeding days, was occupied in rural pastimes and exercises, attended by eating and drinking.
4
obsoleteThe act of waking, or state of being awake.
5
A group of vultures or buzzards.
Ricky Lanusse (23 July 2024), “How The Collapse of India’s Vultures Led to Half a Million Human Deaths”, in Medium.com, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2026: “A wake of vultures – possibly a mix of Himalayan Griffons and Indian Vulture
6
The path left behind a ship on the surface of the water.
7
The disturbance which follows an object, person or animal moving through water.
8
The turbulent air left behind a flying aircraft.
9
The area behind a moving person or object.
The player left the rest of the field trailing in her wake.
10
The perturbation behind a body moving through a fluid.