醒 meaning in English

xǐng

to wake up; to be awake

HSK 4verb16 strokes

Meaning of 醒

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

xǐng

to wake up
to be awake
to become aware
to sober up
to come to

How to use 醒

醒 means to wake up or to sober up, and it often takes a result complement like 醒来 or appears in phrases like 叫醒 (jiàoxǐng, to wake someone up). It also describes a state of being awake. Example: 我早上六点就醒了。(Wǒ zǎoshang liù diǎn jiù xǐng le.) I woke up at six this morning.

醒 is made of 酉 (yǒu), a wine jar, plus 星 (xīng), a star, which also hints at the sound. Picture someone who drank too much wine finally sobering up and seeing the stars clearly again.

Common mistake: Learners often mix up 醒 (xǐng, to wake up) with 起床 (qǐchuáng, to get out of bed). You can 醒了 but still lie in bed and not 起床 yet. Also watch the tone. 醒 is third tone xǐng, not first tone like 星 (xīng).

醒 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

我wǒ已yǐ经jīng醒xǐng了le一yī会huì儿er了le。

I've been up for a while.

我wǒ每měi天tiān早zǎo上shàng6点diǎn叫jiào醒xǐng他tā。

I wake him at six every morning.

她tā一yī醒xǐng，我wǒ们men就jiù放fàng音yīn乐yuè。

As soon as she wakes up, we'll turn on the music.

明míng天tiān早zǎo上shàng早zǎo点diǎn叫jiào醒xǐng我wǒ。

Wake me up early tomorrow morning.

我wǒ今jīn天tiān早zǎo上shàng五wǔ点diǎn醒xǐng来lái。

I woke up at five this morning.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

醒 xǐng · to wake up · 16 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 醒.

提醒	tíxǐng	to remind; to call attention to
清醒	qīngxǐng	clear-headed; sober
醒来	xǐnglai	to waken
觉醒	juéxǐng	to awaken; to come to realize
苏醒	sūxǐng	to come to; to awaken
惊醒	jīngxǐng	to rouse; to be woken by sth
醒目	xǐngmù	eye-grabbing (headline); striking (illustration)
醒悟	xǐngwù	to come to oneself; to come to realize
吵醒	chǎoxǐng	to wake sb up with a noise
叫醒	jiàoxǐng	to awaken; to wake sb up; to rouse
唤醒	huànxǐng	to wake sb; to rouse
睡醒	shuìxǐng	to wake up

Questions about 醒

What does 醒 mean?

醒 (xǐng) means "to wake up; to be awake" and is used as a verb.

How do you write 醒?

醒 is made of 1 character: 醒 (16 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.

Is 醒 an HSK word?

Yes. 醒 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

How do I say someone is still asleep or already awake?

Use 醒着 (xǐngzhe) for being awake and 还没醒 (hái méi xǐng) for not awake yet. For example, 他还没醒。(Tā hái méi xǐng.) He is not awake yet.

What is the difference between 醒 and 提醒?

醒 is about you yourself waking up or becoming aware. 提醒 (tíxǐng) means to remind someone else, as in 请提醒我。(Qǐng tíxǐng wǒ.) Please remind me.