Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wake

/ˈwæɪ̯k/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.76 in modern English

Syllables
wake
IPA
/ˈwæɪ̯k/
11
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

(often followed by up) To stop sleeping.

Intransitive verb

verb

(often followed by up) To make somebody stop sleeping; to rouse from sleep.

Transitive verb

verb

To put in motion or action; to arouse; to excite.

Transitive verb

verb

To be excited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.

Intransitive verb

verb

To watch, or sit up with, at night, as a dead body.

verb

To be or remain awake; not to sleep.

verb

To be alert; to keep watch

Obsolete

verb

To sit up late for festive purposes; to hold a night revel.

Obsolete

Example Sentences

Etymology

A merger of two verbs of related/similar form and meaning: * Middle English waken, Old English wacan, from Proto-West Germanic *wakan, from Proto-Germanic *wakaną. * Middle English wakien, Old English wacian, from Proto-West Germanic *wakēn, from Proto-Germanic *wakāną.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈwæɪ̯k/

Usage

Inflected Forms

wakes (present, singular) waking (participle, present) woke (past) waked (past) woken (participle, past) waked (participle, past) woke (colloquial, participle) no-table-tags (table tags) glossary (inflection template) woke (first person, past) waked (first person, past) wakest (archaic, present)

Derived Forms

bewake forwake outwake rewake wakeable wakeathon wakeful wakeless wakelock wakeman wakeover waker

Phrases

non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder wake and bake wake boat wake the dead wake up wake up one day pull an all-nighter rise and shine

Frequently Paired Words

wacken pull an all-nighter rise and shine show a leg lark owl all-nighter reveille

Synonyms

get up stir awaken rouse arouse awake bring round cry knock up roust uprouse wake

Homonyms

Wake

Antonyms

fall asleep sleep

Rhymes With

make take break lake mistake fake cake sake shake snake jake blake

Questions

How do you pronounce wake?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈwæɪ̯k/.
What does wake mean?
(often followed by up) To stop sleeping.
Where does wake come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce wake

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wake”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈwæɪ̯k/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “wake”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “wake” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.