Woke

ROUSED

Think of what happens when an alarm clock does its job in the morning—it’s the past tense of that action.

Woke" here isn’t about social awareness—it’s the past tense of "wake," meaning to stop sleeping. The answer "ROUSED" fits because it’s a synonym for being awakened or stirred from rest. Think of it like shaking someone awake: they’re no longer asleep, they’ve been roused. The clue plays on the word’s older meaning rather than its modern slang use.