What does ‘woke’ mean and why are some conservatives using it?

The definition of “woke” changes depending on who you ask.

The term has been used by some conservatives as an insult against progressive values, as seen this midterm election cycle.

However, the term was originally coined by progressive Black Americans and was used in racial justice movements in the early to mid-1900s, including its use in a historical recording of the protest song, “Scottsboro Boys” by Lead Belly. In that recording, it was used as a term about staying aware of the potential for racist violence as a Black person in America.

The term, in one of its contemporary meanings, began to gain more recent popularity with the general population at the start of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2014, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

The Ferguson, Missouri, protests that year helped wake many people up to the social injustices of police brutality against the Black community following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown.

To be “woke” politically in the Black community means that someone is informed, educated and conscious of social injustice and racial inequality, Merriam-Webster Dictionary states.

Brown’s death was shortly followed by the fatal police shootings of Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and others -- which continued the growing popularity of the phrase and its use in protest and activist circles for many years to come, according to research from Ohio State University on the rhetoric of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The term has since been co-opted by some Republicans as a pejorative term this midterm election cycle to signify the identity-based social justice issues that some Democrats and progressives push for, representatives from the Democratic Governors Association and Working Families Party tell ABC News.

“Woke” has been used by former President Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and several Trump-backed midterm candidates including Kari Lake and Mehmet Oz.

"We reject woke ideology," DeSantis said in his election night speech. "We will never ever surrender to the woke agenda. People have come here because of our policies."

Identity has been at the heart of the so-called culture wars being seen across the country, as Democrats and Republicans go head-to-head on issues such as LGBTQ+ rights, racial education in schools, and more.

For example, DeSantis himself has implemented policies in schools that have been criticized for limiting discussion and curriculum on race, gender and sexual orientation with the Parental Rights in Education Law and the now-blocked Stop W.O.K.E Act. He argues these laws give parents more say in what their kids learn in schools.

“What you see now with the rise of this woke ideology is an attempt to really delegitimize our history and to delegitimize our institutions, and I view the wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism,” DeSantis said in a December 2021 speech. “They really want to tear at the fabric of our society.”

Across the country, hundreds of similar legislative efforts have targeted LGBTQ+ identities and race in education.

Some conservatives have been critical of those using the phrase.

David Turner, the communications director of the Democratic Governors Association, said that the berating use of “woke” and what it stands for makes some Republicans appear like “bullies.” “Republicans talking about these issues, and trying to focus on very small out groups and making people fear them, sounds like bullying,” he said.

“Republicans, time and again, have overstepped where they think the average voter is and where most Americans are on mainstream issues,” Turner said. “This also applies to their hyper-focus on niche cultural war issues.”

The Republican National Committee, Republican Governor Association and DeSantis' office did not respond to ABC News' requests for comment.

Maurice Mitchell, the national director of the Working Families Party and the Social Movement Strategist with Movement 4 Black Lives, calls conservative use of “woke” a “dog-whistle.

“Because ‘woke’ is associated with Black people, it’s been a useful club for those who want to beat those seeking justice over the head with white grievance Politics to win elections without deploying explicitly racist terms," Mitchell said.