awestruck
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of awestruck
First recorded in 1625–35
Explanation
To be awestruck is to be full of complete wonder, amazement, or dread for something. Swimming with a humpback whale or being near a tornado would leave most people awestruck. When you're awestruck, you're amazed. Awestruck literally means to be struck with awe — a feeling of profound amazement. You can be awestruck by something surprising, wonderful, or even scary. Imagine the breathless feeling you’d get swimming next to a whale! That’s awestruck. This is a very powerful feeling that would never apply to everyday things. Being awestruck leaves you stunned. You can't quite believe what you're seeing or hearing.
Vocabulary lists containing awestruck
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Awestruck, Zoë pets the painting and stares at Matt with loopy eyes, thrilled that someone else is experiencing this with her.
From Salon • May 15, 2025
Awestruck Han Solo and Chewbacca lay eyes on the Millennium Falcon for the first time in the action-packed trailer for “Solo: A Star Wars Story” that landed Sunday night.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2018
Awestruck, and dismayed, the station was still a far grander thing than that which sits there now.
From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2015
Awestruck bystanders ask if he was a sniper.
From The Guardian • Jan. 15, 2011
Awestruck at the sight and sounds, I stood dazed until suddenly recalled to myself by a Nubian lion, who laid hold of my cloak-flaps with unsheathed claws.
From McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
