wake up
/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/
"wake-up" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wake up” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To stop sleeping; to awake.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wake-up · wake up · English
wake up · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wake up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “wake up” in English
Rare enough to double-check
wake up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌweɪk ˈʌp/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for wake up, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From wake + up. The correct English form is wake up, spelled W-A-K-E- -U-P.
Definition
- 1To stop sleeping; to awake.
- 2To awaken somebody.
- 3To become more aware of a real-life situation; to concentrate on the matter in hand.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wake up appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.
"Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head"
Etymology
From wake + up.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.