Meanings
- derogatoryslangsometimesuncountablegovernmentThe quality or state of being woke.
Faux wokeness is the act of identifying yourself as an ally to people of color, but supporting color-blind, savior, or colonialistic approaches to activism. Faux wokeness ignores the intersectional, systemic, and institutional functions of racism.
2018, Laura A. Roy, Teaching While White: Addressing the Intersections of Race and Immigration in the Classroom, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 1502 more examples
Justice Clarence Thomas served up a twofer last week: a Supreme Court decision, in Terry v. U.S., that’s noteworthy for its judicial restraint as well as for pushing back at another false racial narrative that has gained popularity in this Age of Wokeness.
2021 June 22, Jason L. Riley, “Clarence Thomas vs. the Fictional Progressive Narrative”, in The Wall Street JournalWhat links these developments is a loose constellation of ideas that is changing the way that mostly white, educated, left-leaning Americans view the world. This credo still lacks a definitive name: it is variously known as left-liberal identity politics, social-justice activism or, simply, wokeness.
[2021 September 4, “How did American “wokeness” jump from elite schools to everyday life?”, in The Economist, →ISSN
Origin
Translations
French wokisme
- wokismequality or state of being woke
German (politisch) wach, woke
- (politisch) wachquality or state of being woke
- wokequality or state of being woke
- links-wokischquality or state of being woke
Portuguese lacração
- lacraçãoquality or state of being woke
Yiddish וואָקיזם
- וואָקיזם (vokizm)quality or state of being woke
Cite this entry
wokeness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wokeness
“wokeness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wokeness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wokeness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wokeness.
Source: wokeness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.