ปลุก
wake (someone) up
A native Thai recording for this word is on the way. Please check back soon.
- 1 wake (someone) up、awaken (someone)
- 2 evoke (a feeling or memory)、arouse (interest or awareness)、inspire
This word means to wake someone from sleep or, figuratively, to bring a feeling, memory, or interest to life. Its core image is activating something that was dormant.
wake (someone) up、awaken (someone)
To cause a sleeping person or animal to wake up.
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แม่ปลุกลูกไปโรงเรียน mɛ̂ɛ plùk lûuk pay rooŋrian The mother wakes her child up for school. แม่ปลุกลูกไปโรงเรียน details
evoke (a feeling or memory)、arouse (interest or awareness)、inspire
Figuratively, to cause a feeling, memory, interest, or awareness to emerge or become active.
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เพลงนี้ปลุกใจให้สู้ phleeŋ níi plùkcay hây sûu This song inspires people to keep fighting. เพลงนี้ปลุกใจให้สู้ details
Learning notes
Explanation
The core meaning of ปลุก is to act on someone from the outside and bring them out of sleep. The basic pattern is ปลุก followed by the person being awakened; for example, ปลุกฉัน means “wake me up.” The same image extends figuratively to feelings, memories, hope, interest, and awareness. In these uses, ปลุก brings something dormant to life. It also appears in common combinations such as ปลุกใจ, meaning to inspire or boost morale. ปลุก is a neutral, everyday word and is neither inherently informal nor impolite.
Usage
It is commonly used at home or while traveling when arranging for someone to be woken at a particular time. It also appears when talking about alarms and alarm clocks. Figuratively, it is used for songs or speeches that inspire people, images that revive memories, and advertisements or articles that arouse interest or awareness.
Caution
ปลุก is transitive: someone wakes another person. ตื่น is used when the person themself wakes up. Therefore, “I wake up at six” is ฉันตื่นหกโมง, not normally ฉันปลุกหกโมง. Do not confuse ปลุก with ปลูก, which means “plant” or “cultivate.” Also, combinations such as ปลุกระดม and ปลุกปั่น have established meanings related to inciting or stirring up people and should be learned as complete expressions.
Differences from similar words
1 wake (someone) up synonyms
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ตื่น means that a person wakes up or becomes awake. ปลุก describes someone or something causing another person to wake up.
2 evoke (a feeling or memory) synonyms
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กระตุ้น broadly means to stimulate, encourage, or prompt an action or response. ปลุก more strongly suggests awakening a feeling, memory, or awareness that was previously dormant.
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กระตุ้นเตือน focuses on prompting or reminding someone to stay aware of something. ปลุก can describe bringing the underlying feeling or awareness itself to life.