woke

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wəʊk/
• IPA^(key): /woʊk/
• enPR: wōk

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊk

Etymology 1

Shortened from woke(n up).

Adjective

woke (not generally comparable, comparative more woke or woker, superlative most woke or wokest)

1. (dialect, African-American Vernacular or slang) Awake: conscious and not asleep.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:awake

2. (US, Canada, slang) Alert and aware of what is going on, especially in social justice contexts. Well-informed.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vigilant

   Coordinate terms: (in conservative discourse, pejorative) politically correct, (British) right-on

   • 1942, J. Saunders Redding, Negro Digest, Volume 01:

     Waking up is a damn sight harder than going to sleep, but we’ll stay woke up longer.

   • 1962 May 20, William Melvin Kelley, “If You’re Woke You Dig It”, in The New York Times‎^[1], page 45:

     If You’re Woke You Dig It [title]

   • 1972, Barry Beckham, Garvey Lives!:

     I been sleeping all my life. And now that Mr. Garvey done woke me up, I’m gon stay woke. And I’m gon help him wake up other black folk.

   • 2008, Erykah Badu (lyrics and music), “Master Teacher”, in New Amerykah Part One (4th World War):

     What if there was no niccas / Only master teachers? / I stay woke (dreams dreams)

   • 2014, Lynn Sweeting, WomanSpeak, A Journal of Writing and Art by Caribbean Women, volume 7:

     […] stay woke[,] people of color, / let us occupy this dissent

   • 2016 August 14, Ross Douthat, “A Playboy for President”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     But the cultural conflict between these two post-revolutionary styles — between frat guys and feminist bluestockings, Gamergaters and the diversity police, alt-right provocateurs and “woke” dudebros, the mouthbreathers who poured hate on the all-female “Ghostbusters” and the tastemakers who pretended it was good — is likely here to stay.

   • 2019 December 6, Jamelle Bouie, “Why the ‘Wokest’ Candidates Are the Weakest”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     If this were actually true, you would expect real traction for the wokest candidates in the Democratic presidential race. But it’s been just the opposite. The woke candidates have been the weakest, electorally speaking, and the defining attribute of the Democratic primary has been a preoccupation with the voters that put Trump in the White House.

Derived terms

• get woke, go broke
• woke church
• wokeness
• wokescold
• wokester

Translations

alert of what is happening

• Arabic: يَقِظ (yaqiẓ), نَبِه (nabih)
• Finnish: tiedostava (fi)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

woke

1. simple past and past participle of wake

Further reading

• “woke”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Ewok

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Middle English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English wicu.

Noun

woke

1. Alternative form of weke (“week”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old English wāc, from Proto-Germanic *waikwaz. Doublet of weyk.

Alternative forms

• wac, woc, wake, wok, wooc, woake

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɔːk/
• IPA^(key): /wɑːk/

Adjective

woke (plural and weak singular woke, comparative wakker, superlative wakkest)

1. Weak or feeble; lacking, strength, might, or energy:
   1. Weak or feeble due to illness, affliction or aging.
   2. Lacking competency in combat or on the battlefield.
   3. Helpless; lacking, power, authority, or control.
   4. (rare) Fruitless, barren; agriculturally useless or unusable.
2. Lacking mental strength, force, power or endurance:
   1. Weak religiously; in danger of sinning or moral failure.
   2. (rare) Fearing, afraid; lacking bravery, heart, or courage.
   3. (rare) Unintelligent; lacking intelligence or mental willpower.
   4. (rare) Indecisive, flightly; unable to commit or take action.
   5. (rare) Morally suspect or corrupt; selfish.
3. Unimportant, valueless; of little value or import.
4. (rare) Bendable; able to be plied or flexed.

Derived terms

• woclic
• wocnesse
• woken

Descendants

• Scots: wak, wake, waik (conflated with weyk)

References

• “wōk (adj.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-11-28.