Phrase guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
verb
Often in the infinitive or imperative: to face reality and stop deluding oneself.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Philippines, US, idiomatic, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: open one's eyes, take the hint, wake up and smell the ashes, wake up and smell the decaf, wake up and smell the roses
Antonyms: none provided
History
Probably a humorous elaboration of wake up (“to become more aware of a real-life situation; to concentrate on the matter in hand”), alluding to the fact that coffee is often consumed at breakfast time after waking up in the morning. The term was popularized by the American writer Esther Pauline “Eppie” Lederer (1918–2002), who used the pen name Ann Landers, in the syndicated newspaper advice column Ask Ann Landers.
Across languages
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
