German Conversation · Level 137
30 words
German word
erwecken
Pronunciation
IPA/ɛɐ̯ˈvɛkən/
Meaning
- verbarouse
Example
Das Buch erweckte sein Interesse.
The book aroused his interest.
More examples
Seine Rede erweckte große Aufmerksamkeit.
His speech drew a great deal of attention.
Core concept
A dormant spark in the mind or heart is brought to life and begins to respond.
Common phrases
Aufmerksamkeit erwecken
draw attention
Interesse erwecken
arouse interest
Neugier erwecken
arouse curiosity
Similar words
wecken: To awaken interest or feeling and draw attention to it.
neugierig machen: To make someone curious and eager to learn more.
hervorrufen: To cause an emotion or reaction to arise.
begeistern: To inspire strong positive interest and enthusiasm.
Definition in German
jemandes Interesse oder Gefühle wecken, sodass diese aufmerksam oder bewegt werden
Word origin
Erwecken derives from Old High German erwecken, based on wecken, 'to wake', and its literal sense of waking developed into the figurative sense of arousing interest or feelings.
Usage tips
- Erwecken is transitive and takes an accusative object, as in sein Interesse erwecken, while the person affected is not normally a dative object.
Other meanings
- awakenverb
Opposites
- dämpfendampenverb
- unterdrückensuppressverb
Related words
- Erweckungawakeningnoun
- wiedererweckenreawakenverb
- erweckendarousingadjective