How to Use wake-up call in a Sentence

wake-up call

noun
  • Some feel the harsh process is a wake-up call for those who are ready.
    — Rachel Dissell, cleveland.com, 17 Sep. 2017
  • With this wake-up call, there have been many pros in a sea of cons.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2021
  • Some saw the school board vote as a wake-up call for Democrats.
    — Hanna Panreck, Fox News, 20 Feb. 2022
  • Braun said the skid was a wake-up call for her team, which hasn’t lost since.
    — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, 20 June 2021
  • Julie, what has been the biggest wake-up call for you this year?
    — WSJ, 13 Dec. 2020
  • That will be a little bit of a wake-up call for us in that area.
    — Daniel Oyefusi, baltimoresun.com, 13 Oct. 2019
  • And for a wider range of investors, the near-miss is a wake-up call.
    — Julia Horowitz, CNN, 8 Oct. 2022
  • The move served as a wake-up call, but there was no time for a pity party.
    — Roy Lang Iii, Indianapolis Star, 30 Jan. 2020
  • Maybe this will be the wake-up call the world needs to believe women.
    — Ashley Edwards Walker, Glamour, 15 Oct. 2017
  • Waking up alone on the basement floor might be a wake-up call for him.
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 28 Nov. 2020
  • This is a wake-up call, and more people woke up this time than before.
    — Leyla Santiago, CNN, 15 June 2020
  • The last year has been a wake-up call for parents of school-age children.
    — Ada Tseng, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2021
  • Maybe this could be a wake-up call for our starting group, just to play harder.
    — Anne M. Peterson, orlandosentinel.com, 30 May 2021
  • Watch the moment Ariella gives her mom the best wake-up call!
    — Sarah Scanlan, USA TODAY, 12 Jan. 2023
  • The huge drain on government finances should have been a wake-up call.
    — Anna Home, Variety, 4 Feb. 2022
  • Perhaps the concussion and black eye should have been a wake-up call to slow down.
    — Malia Griggs, SELF, 21 Jan. 2020
  • The goal was a wake-up call as the tide turned back in the Warriors favor.
    — Mike Morea, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 11 Nov. 2021
  • My goal, as a friend of the West, was simply to issue a wake-up call.
    — Marilynne Robinson, Harper's magazine, 10 May 2019
  • Not being able to pay the rent after only four weeks out of work is a wake-up call.
    — Daniel Tenreiro, National Review, 16 Dec. 2020
  • Her now-fiancé stepped in to cover the cost—but the moment was a wake-up call.
    — Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 9 May 2022
  • There's a buzz about some lazy Brood X cicadas that might have missed their wake-up call.
    — Rae Johnson, The Courier-Journal, 17 May 2022
  • Sara Gibson, the head roaster, calls it a wake-up call to customers.
    — Peter Millard, Fortune, 28 Sep. 2021
  • For the Clinton 12, as the group would come to be known, the first week was a wake-up call.
    — Adam Harris, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2020
  • Bennett said the results in Virginia should serve as a wake-up call for the party.
    — Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2021
  • The loss was a wake-up call but the Magic maintained their perspective.
    — Khobi Price, Orlando Sentinel, 4 Oct. 2022
  • The fall of Steve Wynn is a wake-up call for the global casino industry.
    — David Fickling, Houston Chronicle, 9 Feb. 2018
  • Thankfully, no injuries, but the Eagles gave the Tide a wake-up call.
    — Ben Flanagan | [email protected], al, 11 Nov. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wake-up call.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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