Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Fully alert and watchful: Being completely awake, attentive, and aware of one's surroundings.
   • Fully awake: Not sleepy at all; in a state of complete wakefulness.

Usage

• The adjective "wide-awake" is used to describe a person's state of alertness or wakefulness. It often implies a heightened state of awareness, either due to excitement, necessity, or a lack of sleepiness. It is typically used before a noun (attributive position) or after a linking verb (predicative position).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The security guard had to be wide-awake throughout the night shift.
  • After drinking strong coffee, I felt completely wide-awake.
  • The wide-awake audience listened intently to every word of the lecture.

Advanced Usage

• "wide-awake to something": Being fully aware or conscious of a particular fact or situation.
  • Investors need to be wide-awake to the risks in the current market.
• Used to emphasize a state of alertness that contrasts with a previous state of sleep or inattentiveness.
  • The loud noise jolted him from a deep sleep, leaving him instantly wide-awake.

Variants and Related Words

• Wide awake (Adjective phrase): This is the more common, open form of the compound adjective "wide-awake". Both forms have the same meaning.
  • I was wide awake at 3 a.m., thinking about the meeting.
• Wakeful (Adjective): Sleepless; characterized by being awake.
• Alert (Adjective): Quick to notice and respond; vigilant.

Synonyms

• Alert: Vigilant and attentive.
• Vigilant: Keeping careful watch for potential danger or difficulties.
• Sleepless: Unable to sleep; characterized by a lack of sleep.
• Unsleeping: Not sleeping; constantly awake or active (often used figuratively).

Antonyms

• Asleep: In a state of sleep.
• Drowsy: Sleepy and lethargic; half-awake.
• Sleepy: Needing or ready for sleep.

Notes on Different Meanings

• The term "wide-awake" is almost exclusively used as an adjective in modern English.
• Historically, "wide-awake" was also a noun referring to a type of soft, broad-brimmed felt hat, but this usage is now obsolete and primarily found in historical contexts. The provided reference from the English-Vietnamese dictionary reflects this archaic noun form. For contemporary learners, the adjective meaning is the essential one to know.

Adjective

1. fully alert and watchful
   • played heads-up ball
2. fully awake
   • the unsleeping city
   • so excited she was wide-awake all night