Chinese word

醒

Pronunciation

Pinyinxǐng

Meaning

  • verbwake up

Example

我今天早上六点就醒了。wǒ jīn tiān zǎo shàng liù diǎn jiù xǐng le

I woke up at six this morning.

Illustration for 醒 (wake up)

More examples

车祸后，他逐渐醒过来，但记忆有些模糊。chē huò hòu tā zhú jiàn xǐng guò lái dàn jì yì yǒu xiē mó hú

After the car accident, he gradually came to, but his memory was a little hazy.

Core concept

A mind returns to clear awareness when sleep, alcohol, or confusion has clouded it.

Common phrases

  • 醒过来xǐng guò lái

    come to

  • 惊醒了jīng xǐng le

    wake up with a start

Similar words

醒来xǐng lái: Become awake naturally after sleeping.
睡醒shuì xǐng: Finish sleeping and become awake.
叫醒jiào xǐng: Cause a sleeping person to wake by calling or touching them.
清醒qīng xǐng: Return to a clear-minded state after drunkenness or confusion.

Definition in Chinese

从醉酒、迷糊或疲倦状态中恢复清醒，头脑变得清楚，也可用于睡醒或意识恢复。cóng zuì jiǔ mí hū huò pí juàn zhuàng tài zhōng huī fù qīng xǐng tóu nǎo biàn de qīng chǔ yě kě yòng yú shuì xǐng huò yì shí huī fù

Word origin

醒 (xǐng, "wake up") combines 酉 (yǒu, "wine") + 星 (xīng, "star"); 酉 links it to sobering up, while 星 supplies the sound, and the meaning later extends to waking from sleep.

Usage tips

  • The return of awareness does not by itself mean that a person has stood up, so a morning report can describe someone still lying in bed.

Other meanings

  • come toverb
  • sober upverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word