Accademia della Crusca president questions use of ‘woke’ in Italy

Paolo D’Achille, president of the Accademia della Crusca, has suggested that Italy should leave the term ‘woke’ to Americans due to its complex and often contradictory meanings. The English term, which entered frequent use in Italy around 2020, has become a subject of political controversy.

D’Achille noted that the word carries two distinct connotations. Its original meaning, rooted in the United States since the 1940s, refers to an awareness of social injustices and a commitment to civil rights, including struggles against discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. However, a second, derogatory meaning has gained significant traction in political and media discourse, used primarily by opponents to describe progressive movements they perceive as radical or aggressive.