awenoun [ U ]
uk/ɔː/us/ɑː/C2 a feeling of great respect sometimes mixed with fear or surprise:
I've always held musicians in awe.
As children we were rather in awe of our grandfather.
You can't help but stand in awe of (= respect greatly and fear slightly) powerful people.
More examples
- He's such an important man that I'm rather in awe of him.
- We looked on in awe as the gymnast performed her routine.
- The scenery was absolutely stunning - I remember gazing in a state of awe over the landscape.
- We listened in awe because her voice was remarkable for someone so young.
- As the champion played his shots, spectators looked on in awe.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Showing respect and admiration
- admiration
- admire
- admiring
- awestruck
- cover yourself in/with glory idiom
- glory
- honorific
- honour
- idolatry
- idolize
- impress
- impression
- recognition
- regard
- salute
- sb deserves a medal idiom
- sit
- sit at the feet of sb idiom
- stan
- think the sun shines out (of) sb's arse/backside idiom
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aweverb [ T ]
uk/ɔː/us/ɑː/past tense and past participle UK aweing or US awingto cause someone to feel awe:
I was awed but not frightened by the huge gorilla.
Her paintings have awed and amazed the public for half a century.
The audience was awed into silence by her stunning performance.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Surprising and shocking
- a blinding flash idiom
- a bolt from/out of the blue idiom
- amaze
- amazing
- astonish
- bolt
- breath
- earth-shattering
- expectation
- eye-opener
- faze
- flabbergast
- revelation
- staggering
- startle
- startling
- sting
- stunning
- stupefy
- thunderbolt
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awed
adjective uk/ɔːd/us/ɑːd/
We stood there in awed silence.
"How does she manage to run so fast at her age?" he asked in awed tones.