What does woke mean? Dictionary definitions and history

Woke at a glance

Checked October 2026. Slang changes fast; meanings can differ between groups of kids.

What does woke mean?

Short answer: Dictionaries give two main senses.

• Aware of social issues. Merriam-Webster: "aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)." Oxford: "aware of social and political issues and concerned that some groups in society are treated less fairly than others." Cambridge: "aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality."
• A disapproving label. Merriam-Webster's second sense, marked "disapproving": "politically liberal or progressive … especially in a way that is considered unreasonable or extreme." Oxford says the word "is often used in a disapproving way by people who believe that progressive attitudes and beliefs about social and political issues have gone too far." Cambridge also gives a disapproving example.

Merriam-Webster labels both senses "chiefly US slang." Oxford labels the word "informal, often disapproving."

Where woke comes from

"Woke" began as a form of "awake" in African American English. Dictionaries date its early figurative use differently:

• 1924: Merriam-Webster cites an African American newspaper, the Houston Informer, describing "stay woke" as new slang meaning to stay alert.
• 1940s: Dictionary.com dates the figurative sense to this decade, quoting a 1940 union official in a 1943 Atlantic article: "we'll stay woke up longer."

Both dictionaries then list:

• 1962: a New York Times article on Black slang titled "If You're Woke You Dig It."
• 2008: Erykah Badu's song "Master Teacher," with the line "I stay woke."
• 2014: "woke" and "stay woke" become tied to the Black Lives Matter movement; Merriam-Webster links this to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Merriam-Webster also cites a 1938 use by blues musician Lead Belly, in a recording about the Scottsboro Boys.

How the meaning changed

Merriam-Webster says that by the end of the 2010s, "woke" was also being used as a general insult for anyone who is or appears to be politically left-leaning. It notes the word also came to be used mockingly for performative activism, and in phrases like "woke-washing" and "woke capitalism" about companies. Dictionary.com notes that in Black English the word can still simply mean "awake."

Is woke a bad word?

Short answer: It isn't profanity. Whether it's praise or criticism depends on who's using it: Merriam-Webster marks one sense as "disapproving," and Oxford calls the word "often disapproving."

Try tonight: where did you hear it?

If your child brings home "woke," ask where they heard it and what they think it means. Then look it up in a dictionary together. In our program, this is the lesson "Wisdom": thinking before deciding.

What is the dictionary definition of woke?

Merriam-Webster: "aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)." It also lists a disapproving sense.

Where did the word woke come from?

From African American English, as a form of "awake." Merriam-Webster finds "stay woke" in print by 1924; Dictionary.com dates the figurative sense to the 1940s.

When did woke become popular?

In 2014, when it became tied to the Black Lives Matter movement, according to Merriam-Webster.

Is woke an insult?

It can be used either way. Merriam-Webster marks one sense "disapproving," and Oxford labels the word "often disapproving."

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