Woke originally meant being alert and aware, especially about unfair treatment of different groups of people. The word comes from African American speech, where “stay woke” meant paying attention to injustice and discrimination.

Today, the word is used in different ways by different people. Some use it positively to describe awareness of social issues and caring about fairness. Others use it negatively to criticize what they see as too much focus on these topics or as forcing particular views on others.

When you hear someone called “woke” or hear about “woke politics,” the speaker's tone tells you how they mean it: as praise for caring about fairness, or as criticism for going too far. The word has become so charged with different meanings that it can create more confusion than clarity in conversations.

Because woke means such different things to different people, it can be more helpful to be specific about what you actually mean. Clear, specific language can help people understand each other, while woke has become a word that can do the opposite.