From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishawakeninga‧wak‧en‧ing /əˈweɪkənɪŋ/ noun [countable] 1 UNDERSTANDan occasion when you suddenly realize that you understand something or feel something It was during the period of 1943–1945 that his political awakening took place. Confident that he would win, he had a rude awakening (=very unpleasant surprise) on election day.2 WAKE UP/GET UPthe act of waking from sleep
Examples from the Corpus
awakening• Such matters do not, can not, stop the agitations, the incomprehensible simmering of an awakening of the biological urge.• The resulting pain can cause a nighttime awakening.• a teenager's sexual awakening• a spiritual awakening• In addition, night-time awakenings become two times more likely to occur.• Sooner or later man is shaken out of his unconscious state and is led to his ultimate awakening.• Those last years saw a gradual shift from the somnambulance and uncertain awakenings of my earlier time in college.• Upon awakening, I was stirred by the muted chug and hum of the neighbour's Cadillac.• I convey the further information that with awakening awareness I am stirred to approach, and as I approach awareness quickens.rude awakening• I was expecting the oral exam to be easy, but I was in for a rude awakening.• But, come the morning, Ronni was in for a rude awakening.• Eric Young's tackle proved a rude awakening.• Four months after the self-determination speech he received a rude awakening on both scores.• Conservative elements steeped in uniformitarian philosophy cannot be expected to welcome such a rude awakening.• Moving to the city was a rude awakening for an innocent country girl like Eli.• Well, it was a rude awakening.• The sudden fall in stock prices was a rude awakening for new investors.• The only good thing about his rude awakening was the discovery of a gigantic hedgehog behind one of the goalposts.• Renters who move into a vacated apartment face the rude awakening of the market rate an owner is permitted to charge.• This rude awakening was, however, still a few years away at the time when Dustin joined. 