What Does 'Woke' Mean? | Merriam-Webster
May 19, 2025 · Woke is a slang term that has made its way into the mainstream from some varieties of African American English. In AAE, awake is often rendered as woke, as in, “I was sleeping, but now …
Woke - Wikipedia
After being used on Black Twitter, the term woke was increasingly adopted by white people to signal their support for progressive causes. The term became popular with millennials and members of …
What does 'woke' mean in politics? How the term has changed
Aug 8, 2024 · It was first used by Pan-African activist Marcus Garvey as early as 1923. "Woke" was meant to acknowledge the struggles of African Americans and a word of empowerment for some …
Is Woke still a thing? : It's Been a Minute : NPR
Dec 5, 2025 · Is that real or imagined? From declining Target sales to Mamdani's election, some folks online are feeling a vibe shift. Is that feeling...woke? And if so, does that mean woke is back in style?
woke | Slang | Dictionary.com
Jun 29, 2018 · Woke means being conscious of racial discrimination in society and other forms of oppression and injustice. In mainstream use, woke can also more generally describe someone or …
“Woke”: How a Word Changed Meaning – and Why You Should Care
Dec 10, 2025 · A Short History: From “Stay Woke” to Culture-War Punchline The word woke originally emerged in African-American English in the early 20th century. To “stay woke” meant to be alert to …
The battle over wokeness: definition, debate, and political power - MSN
Like its predecessor "political correctness," " wokeness " quickly became a term of abuse, complicating the already thorny attempts to define it. Attacks on "woke Marxist lunatics" betray so much ...
What does woke mean? Term origins and how its meaning has …
Jan 5, 2024 · In the interest of fostering clarity in conversation, here is an overview of the term “woke” including its origins, what it means to different people, how it has evolved over the years and why...
Woke: Compliment or criticism, it is now fuelling the culture wars
Aug 20, 2021 · "'Stay woke' really is about staying aware of injustices happening both in America and abroad." But as the phrase became more popular, Watson says woke lost its meaning.
What does the word 'woke' really mean, and where does it come from? - NPR
Jul 19, 2023 · One word has become unavoidable on the campaign trail — woke. But what does it really mean and where does it come from? The word has a long and serious history in Black culture.