awe-inspiring
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of awe-inspiring
First recorded in 1805–15
Explanation
When something is so astonishing or magnificent that you can hardly speak, it's awe-inspiring. You dream might be to travel to Arizona to see the awe-inspiring sight of the Grand Canyon. What's awe-inspiring is in the eye of the beholder — in other words, your first visit to New York may provide one awe-inspiring sight after another, from the towering skyscrapers to the Statue of Liberty. Someone born and raised there might be unimpressed, finding the rugged coast of Maine to be far more awe-inspiring. If something inspires a feeling of awe in you (a sense of overwhelming wonder), it's awe-inspiring.
Vocabulary lists containing awe-inspiring
Amazing
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Amazing
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Amazing
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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.
He told the conference: "We discovered what we think is a black hole merging with a massive companion star, shredding it into a disk that feeds the black hole. It's a rare and awe-inspiring phenomenon."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Still, the Obama Center presents us with some genuinely awe-inspiring pieces, such as the Bible upon which both Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama were sworn in as presidents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Elon Musk's SpaceX has made awe-inspiring achievements since its founding over two decades ago and has big ideas -- colonies on Mars, orbital AI data centers, rapidly reusable rockets -- for the future.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
"This mission will require the most awe-inspiring coordination of heavy-lift rocket launches in history, drawing on the talent and capability of teams across government and the spaceflight community," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Numberless and inexpressible frustrations combined to make his rage elemental and awe-inspiring.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
