awe
Americannoun
-
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.
- Synonyms:
- veneration, wonder
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Archaic. power to inspire fear or reverence.
-
Obsolete. fear or dread.
verb (used with object)
-
awes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
awed,
past participle, past
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awing
present participle
-
to inspire with awe.
-
to influence or restrain by awe.
noun
-
overwhelming wonder, admiration, respect, or dread
-
archaic power to inspire fear or reverence
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
awesimple
-
awessimple
-
have awedperfect
-
has awedperfect
-
am awingprogressive
-
are awingprogressive
-
is awingprogressive
-
have been awingperfect progressive
-
has been awingperfect progressive
Past
-
awedsimple
-
had awedperfect
-
was awingprogressive
-
were awingprogressive
-
had been awingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of awe
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”
Explanation
Awe is a feeling of fear that is mixed with respect and wonder. You might gaze at the Grand Canyon with awe, marveling at its beauty and fearing its depth. Awe dates back to Middle English, and was borrowed from Old Norse, a Scandinavian language. In Middle English the word referred to intense fear. The related English word awful originally meant "full of or causing intense fear." And awesome, which originally meant "inspiring awe" now is used generally as a synonym for excellent.
Vocabulary lists containing awe
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 1
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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.
See Examples For:
The studio filming left Bentley "in awe", he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Travel, in Piff’s view, is an efficient delivery system for awe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
And so you get a power that’s much greater than your own, and you begin to look on other human beings with the type of awe and respect that their humanness deserves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Templeton has seen onlookers react with similar awe.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026
He was a foreigner, and although I no longer stood in awe of him, still the secret had been long locked up in my breast and would not come out easily.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
That tidbit elicited oohs, awes and cheers from the crowd at Boston’s Wang Theater.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2023
The keyboard introduction to What Was I Made For?, taken from the recent soundtrack to the Barbie movie, draws gasps and "awes" from around the field.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2023
While Churchill awes spectators with its size and scope, on par with the world’s monumental stadiums, Keeneland, opened in 1936, guards its idyllic appeal.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2021
The teacher has already inserted into the hat the rabbit whose production in the classroom awes the undergraduates.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 24, 2015
There is an innocence in him that I have found merely foreign and foolish; yet in another moment that seeming innocence reveals a discipline of knowledge and a largeness of purpose that awes me.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The total eclipse plunged a vast swathe of Spain from broad daylight into darkness Wednesday, drawing awed gasps and applause from spectators gathered in parks and cities across the country.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
"You've got to be awed by it all, which I never cease to be."
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
Some might find it humanizing—proof that below the bloviating gestalt, the president can become awed by existential futility.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Mozart Maxon, then a consultant for India’s National Disaster Management Authority, was awed when he saw the lake for the first time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
"I say," said Shasta in an awed voice.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
He has a unique capacity for memorizing data that he frequently recites, awing listeners.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 20, 2023
Holmgren stole the show as a soloist at times, swatting shots, swooping for dunks and awing the crowd with his agility.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 23, 2021
Inside the Sistine Chapel, where in the past I have been shoved and elbowed by the crowds, about 30 spectators were awing over Perugino’s frescoes and craning to see Michelangelo’s burly musclemen on the ceiling.
From New York Times ● Jun. 25, 2021
In one space as awing as any I saw on my underground weekend, the 14 of us walked into a veritable canyon, with a natural vaulted ceiling.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2019
I should always be thinking I had some Minerva tutoring, or some Juno awing me.
From The Wanderer (Volume 3 of 5) or, Female Difficulties by Fanny Burney
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.
