awe
1awe
noun \ˈȯ\Definition of AWE
1
: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime <stood in awe of the king> <regard nature's wonders with awe>
See Examples of AWE
- It was a sight that filled me with awe and reverence.
- a person who inspires feelings of awe in others
- Clem gasped in awe. Inches from the shelf stood a column of scrimshaw the likes of which he'd never seen. —Al Michaud, Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 2005
- I expected to be impressed by Machu Picchu, but now that we're here, standing in the clouds atop the world, I'm more than impressed—I'm in awe. Machu Picchu is actually better than photographs suggest, more a timeless way station than archaeological ruin. —Patrick J. Kelly, Traveler, May/June 2005
- Organs began to appear in American churches early in the eighteenth century. Their glorious tones promised to harmonize cacophonous congregational singers and to inspire worshippers with a reverential sense of awe, bestirring them to moral improvement. —Jonathan D. Sarna, American Judaism, 2004
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Origin of AWE
Middle English, from Old Norse agi; akin to Old English ege awe, Greek achos pain
First Known Use: 13th century
Related to AWE
Related Words: dread; fear; respect, reverence, veneration; curiosity, interest; shock, surprise; disbelief, incomprehension, incredulity; beguilement, bewitchment, captivation, enchantment, fascination; animation, enlightenment, enlivenment, excitement, invigoration, stimulation; absorption, engagement, engrossment, enthrallment, immersion, involvement
Near Antonyms: apathy, disinterest, incuriosity, indifference, unconcern; boredom, doldrums, ennui, listlessness, restlessness, tedium, tiredness, weariness, weltschmerz; cheerlessness, dispiritedness, joylessness, melancholy
Rhymes with AWE
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