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wake-up call

noun

a telephone call that wakes a person from sleep
an event that alerts people to a danger or difficulty

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Idioms and Phrases

A portentous event, report, or situation that brings an issue to immediate attention. For example, The rise in unemployment has given a wake-up call to state governments , or The success of the online subscription is a wake-up call to publishers . This metaphoric term originated in the second half of the 1900s for a telephone call arranged in advance to awaken a sleeper, especially in a hotel. Its figurative use dates from about 1990.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He decided to attend Sherman Oaks Notre Dame as a freshman, requiring 6:30 a.m. wake-up calls and enduring traffic jams on the 5 Freeway.

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After spending time in an eating disorder unit, I was told that if I didn't change, I'd soon be sectioned, which was the wake-up call I needed.

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"This serves as a wake-up call for the region, not only to reduce reliance on the US, but also to re-balance overdependence on any single trade and export partner."

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"These findings should serve as a wake-up call for global health leaders. Without decisive action, AMR could undermine decades of progress in child health, particularly in the world's most vulnerable regions."

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But he also wants it to act as a "wake-up call" for men themselves.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

wake-up Waksman

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