awe

[ aw ]
See synonyms for: aweawed on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God; in awe of great political figures.

  2. Archaic. power to inspire fear or reverence.

  1. Obsolete. fear or dread.

verb (used with object),awed, aw·ing.
  1. to inspire with awe.

  2. to influence or restrain by awe.

Origin of awe

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English aghe, awe, from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse agi “fear,” cognate with Gothic agis, Old English ege, Greek áchos “pain”

Other words for awe

Opposites for awe

Other words from awe

  • outawe, verb (used with object), out·awed, out·aw·ing.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use awe in a sentence

  • "It is my father," said she, still standing in the way and awing him by the power of her beauty.

  • Her faulty administration, moreover, drew the people into the crime, because she exasperated without sufficiently awing them.

  • Nevertheless he paraded the Tory remainder of it, doubtless with the intention of awing the entire county.

    The Little Red Foot | Robert W. Chambers
  • For the first time he saw the awing vastness of the desert, and the soft pastel shades which made their desolation beautiful.

    'Me-Smith' | Caroline Lockhart
  • He had no capacity, whatever, for either awing or conciliating those with whom he came in contact.

    With Clive in India | G. A. Henty

British Dictionary definitions for awe

awe

/ (ɔː) /


noun
  1. overwhelming wonder, admiration, respect, or dread

  2. archaic power to inspire fear or reverence

verb
  1. (tr) to inspire with reverence or dread

Origin of awe

1
C13: from Old Norse agi; related to Gothic agis fear, Greek akhesthai to be grieved

Derived forms of awe

  • aweless or US awless, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012