Awaken/əˈweɪkən/ Definition 1 of 5Pro Tip 1/2Literal Awakening Use 'awaken' to describe someone coming out of sleep. It can be gentle or sudden. They slowly awakened to a peaceful morning. Pro Tip 2/2External Trigger 'Awaken' is often caused by external factors like noise, light, or movement. A loud crash outside my window awakened me.