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.
The fact that it came out following scores of delightful social media posts made by awestruck international visitors who crisscrossed the country to enjoy the World Cup doesn’t help.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026
Military jets buzzed crowds of awestruck parents and children.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
"If we found out there were aliens, I'd hope people were astonished, humbled and awestruck by it," she told the BBC.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Coltrane’s status had grown rapidly in the late 1950s with awestruck solos featuring what critic Ira Gitler called “sheets of sound.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
By this time Gum Baby had leaped from John Henry—who stood awestruck by what he had just learned—to High John, and now she dropped to where Miss Sarah and Miss Rose sat.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
