awaken

awaken — verb

1. to come out of sleep, or to bring another person out of sleep, often gently or i

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to come out of sleep, or to bring another person out of sleep, often gently or in a quiet way.

Example

Camille awakened just before dawn and listened to the rain on the roof.

intransitive: awaken at a time of day

The smell of fresh bread awakened Bao from a long, deep sleep.

transitive: noun + awaken + person + from sleep

Common collocations
  • awaken at dawn
  • awaken from sleep
  • awaken the baby
  • suddenly awaken
Synonyms
  • wake up

    the everyday phrasal verb; far more common in spoken English

  • awake

    verb form with the same meaning; slightly more common as an adjective

  • rouse

    suggests waking someone with effort, often from a heavy sleep

Antonyms
  • fall asleep

    the opposite action: drifting into sleep

  • doze off

    informal: to start sleeping unintentionally

Grammar Patterns

awaken (someone)

awaken from + noun

Usage Note

More formal and literary than 'wake up'. Common in novels, news, and written narration; less common in everyday speech, where 'wake up' is the natural choice.

Common Mistakes

I awaken up at six.
I wake up at six.' or ✅ 'I awaken at six.
'awaken' is never followed by 'up'.
The noise awoken the dog.
The noise awakened the dog.' or ✅ 'The noise awoke the dog.
'awoken' is the past participle of 'awake', not the past tense of 'awaken'.

2. to cause a feeling, memory, or interest to arise in someone — for example, a son

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to cause a feeling, memory, or interest to arise in someone — for example, a song bringing back childhood memories, or a teacher sparking curiosity in a student.

Example

The old photograph awakened painful memories of Jin's grandmother.

transitive: thing + awaken + memory/feeling

Mr. Patel's lessons awakened a deep love of poetry in many of his students.

pattern: awaken + feeling + in + person

Common collocations
  • awaken memories
  • awaken interest
  • awaken curiosity
  • awaken concern
Synonyms
  • stir

    similar but more informal; suggests gently moving feelings

  • arouse

    stronger and more sudden; common with suspicion, anger, interest

  • kindle

    literary; suggests starting a feeling like lighting a small fire

Antonyms
  • suppress

    to push a feeling down rather than letting it rise

  • deaden

    to make a feeling weaker or harder to notice

Grammar Patterns

awaken + feeling/memory/interest (in someone)

feeling + awaken (in someone)

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense takes an abstract object (memory, feeling, interest) rather than a person or animal. Often appears in formal writing, journalism, and reflective prose.

Common Mistakes

The film awakened me about climate change.
The film awakened my concern about climate change.
the object should be the feeling itself, not the person who feels it.
The teacher awakened the students interest.
The teacher awakened the students' interest.
needs the possessive apostrophe, since the interest belongs to the students.
Phrasal verbs

awaken to

phrasal verb

to begin to understand or notice something important that you had not realised before, such as a danger, a truth, or your own feelings.

The town slowly awakened to the danger of building so close to the river.

After visiting the shelter, Daniel awakened to how lucky his own family was.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs describe leaving sleep, but they differ in register and feel. 'Wake up' is the everyday choice in conversation: 'I wake up at seven.' 'Awake' as a verb is rarer in modern speech and is most often met as an adjective ('She is awake'). 'Awaken' is the most literary of the group and appears mainly in novels, news writing, and reflective prose; it suggests a calmer, more deliberate moment than 'wake up'. 'Rouse' implies effort or difficulty — you rouse a heavy sleeper or rouse troops at dawn — and often has the feel of stirring someone who does not want to get up. For most spoken situations, choose 'wake up'; reserve 'awaken' for written contexts or for an effect of quiet seriousness.

wake up ↗awake ↗awaken ↗rouse

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • awaken from a deep sleep
  • awaken to the truth
  • awaken old memories

Prepositions

  • from (sleep)
  • to (a danger / truth)
  • in (someone)

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

Comes from Old English 'onwæcnan', meaning to spring up or come into being, which later joined with the prefix patterns of 'awake'. The 'a-' prefix was an old way of marking a change of state, so the word originally pictured a person passing into a wakeful state. The figurative use — about feelings or ideas rising in someone — grew naturally from this image of something coming to life.