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
-
Archaic. power to inspire fear or reverence.
-
Obsolete. fear or dread.
verb (used with object)
-
to inspire with awe.
-
to influence or restrain by awe.
noun
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overwhelming wonder, admiration, respect, or dread
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archaic power to inspire fear or reverence
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
One of them said, with awe, they’d even spotted a member of Congress recently.
From Salon • May 29, 2026
Visitors departed the exhibition with a sense of awe at American industrial progress.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
“She found a sense of purpose and an engine she didn’t know she had. Her colleagues were in awe of her single-mindedness.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026
A few years later, during Doku's first year playing for Rennes, Kylian Mbappe and his father sat in the stands watching on in awe.
From BBC • May 16, 2026
The boy-Human nodded, in awe of this ancient feline wisdom.
From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth
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.
