stay woke
Keep being aware
Stay woke means to remain alert to social injustice, especially racism and systemic inequality.
The phrase emerged from African American Vernacular English as a call to maintain awareness: Stay woke—they're watching us.
It gained wider currency during the Black Lives Matter movement.
Critics later adopted it mockingly to disparage progressive politics, giving the phrase a contested, politically charged quality.
- awareHaving knowledge of
- consciousMentally present and alert
- alertWarning or watchfulness
- pay attentionConcentrate on something
- vigilantKeenly aware of danger
open your eyes · activism · social justice · enlightened · informed · critical thinking · mindful · protest · Black Lives Matter · progressive · systemic · inequality · movement · hashtag · Twitter · consciousness · resistance · solidarity
- protest sloganssi se puede, enough is enough, rise up, resist, ban the bomb
- slangslang, jargon, lingo, argot, cant
- alertnessalert, alertness, attentive, vigilance, vigilant
stay woketurn a blind eye
Deliberately ignore something obvious
complacent · asleep at the wheel · head in the sand · willful ignorance · look the other way
stay wokedo nothing
Remain inactive deliberately
go along to get along · keep your head down · mind your own business · disengage · check out
stay wokeanti-woke
Opposing progressive social movements
unwoke · based · redpilled · traditional values · conservatism
stay, stayed, staying, stays, woke, wake, woken, wakes, awake