AWE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does awe mean? 

• AWE (noun)
  The noun AWE has 2 senses:

1. an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration

2. a feeling of profound respect for someone or something

  Familiarity information: AWE used as a noun is rare.

• AWE (verb)
  The verb AWE has 1 sense:

1. inspire awe in

  Familiarity information: AWE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• AWE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Context example:

he stared over the edge with a feeling of awe

Hypernyms ("awe" is a kind of...):

admiration; wonder; wonderment (the feeling aroused by something strange and surprising)

Derivation:

awe (inspire awe in)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A feeling of profound respect for someone or something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

awe; fear; reverence; veneration

Context example:

his respect for the law bordered on veneration

Hypernyms ("awe" is a kind of...):

emotion (any strong feeling)

• AWE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they awe    ... he / she / it awes   
Past simple: awed   
Past participle: awed   
-ing form: aweing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inspire awe in

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

The famous professor awed the undergraduates

Hypernyms (to "awe" is one way to...):

affright; fright; frighten; scare (cause fear in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "awe"):

cow; overawe (subdue, restrain, or overcome by affecting with a feeling of awe; frighten (as with threats))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence examples:

Sam cannot awe Sue
The performance is likely to awe Sue

Derivation:

awe (an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration)

 Context examples 

He seemed so confident that I, remembering my own confidence two nights before and with the baneful result, felt awe and vague terror.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“And you are Humphrey Van Weyden,” she said, gazing back at me with equal solemnity and awe.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

And because of this, and of his merit as a hunter, he was looked upon with respect, and even awe; and there was talk of making him chief after old Klosh-Kwan.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

They were awed, so still and large he stood, and a moment’s pause fell, till the boldest one leaped straight for him.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Mr. Peggotty touched me, and whispered with much awe and reverence.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He gazed upon her in awe.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The beautiful Italian looked with awe at my companion.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It moved every feeling of wonder and awe that the picture of an omnipotent God warring with his creatures was capable of exciting.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

“Then good-bye to the ancient and powerful town of Lepe,” quoth Ford, whose lightness of tongue could at times rise above his awe of Sir Nigel.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I remember the awe with which one day in Thomas Street, Portsmouth, I saw a print of the great Corsican in a bookseller’s window.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)