wake-up

[ weyk-uhp ]

noun

1. an act or instance of waking up.
2. an act or instance of being awakened:

   I asked the hotel desk for a wake-up at 6.

3. a time of awaking or being awakened:

   I'll need a 5 o'clock wake-up to make the early plane.

4. flicker ².

adjective

1. serving to wake one from sleep:

   Tell the front desk you want a wake-up call.

2. serving to arouse or alert:

   a wake-up call on the problems of pollution.

wake-up

noun

1. informal.
   an alert or intelligent person
2. be a wake-up to informal.
   to be fully alert to (a person, thing, action, etc)

Word History and Origins

Origin of wake-up¹

First recorded in 1835–45; noun, adj. use of verb phrase wake up

Example Sentences

“They wake up in the morning, they wanna compete. And the games count for the regular season. We all recognize how difficult the Western Conference is. And every game is gonna matter.”

From Los Angeles Times

“Americans want to wake up in a normal country again,” Roberts began, likely euphemistically referring to Project 2025’s plan to all but erase federal protections and anti-discrimination measures based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

From Salon

"My life will end after this tweet," he wrote at 19:20, adding: "I wish that one day Iranians will wake up and overcome slavery."

From BBC

“Other than maybe I’m being punked. That’s not how I wake up, thinking, ‘Is this the day that I’ll be asked to be Sexiest Man Alive?’

From Los Angeles Times

He continued, “That’s not how I wake up, thinking, ‘Is this the day that I’ll be asked to be Sexiest Man Alive?’

From Salon

Related Words

• agitate
• arouse
• awaken
• disturb
• fire up
• galvanize
• heighten
• incite
• inflame
• kindle
• provoke
• rile
• startle
• stir
• trigger
• wake up
• whip up
• work up