awe — ozdic

Collocations

7

1

(noun.)

ADJ

great

VERB + AWE

be/stand in, hold sb in

The young players stood in awe of their legendary coach when he first walked into the gym.

feel

inspire

The old cathedral's soaring architecture never failed to inspire awe in visitors.

PREP

in/with ~

The children stood with awe as the magician made the rabbit disappear from the empty hat.

~ at

The tourists stood in awe at the size of the ancient pyramid.

PHRASES

a sense of awe

Walking into the ancient temple filled me with a sense of awe.

Definitions

noun

1

A feeling of fear and reverence.

Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.

2

A feeling of amazement.

For several minutes no one spoke; I think they must each have been as overcome by awe as was I. All about us was a flora and fauna as strange and wonderful to us as might have been those upon a distant planet had we suddenly been miraculously transported through ether to an unknown world.

In 1825, the first public railway carried passengers across the English countryside, setting in motion not just an engineering revolution, but an industrial one too. Imagine the awe and excitement of those first passengers as they boarded the train, unaware that they were witnessing the dawn of a new era.

3

Power to inspire awe.

verb

1

To inspire fear and reverence in.

That large room had always awed Ivor: even as a child he had never wanted to play in it, for all that it was so limitless, the parquet floor so vast and shiny and unencumbered, the windows so wide and light with the fairy expanse of Kensington Gardens.

2

To control by inspiring dread.

While a sense of outrage is the only rational response to atrocity, if that outrage is maintained at too high a level over too long a time it can generate feelings of impotence, as we permit ourselves to be awed by this irrational act of violence.

noun

1

A bucket (blade) attached to water wheels.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — a feeling of profound respect for someone or something

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

6

01

Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds a

Wiktionary

02

For several minutes no one spoke; I think they must each have been as overcome by awe as was I. All about us was a flora and fauna as strange and wonderful to us as might have been those upon a distan

Wiktionary

03

In 1825, the first public railway carried passengers across the English countryside, setting in motion not just an engineering revolution, but an industrial one too. Imagine the awe and excitement of

Wiktionary

04

That large room had always awed Ivor: even as a child he had never wanted to play in it, for all that it was so limitless, the parquet floor so vast and shiny and unencumbered, the windows so wide and

Wiktionary

05

While a sense of outrage is the only rational response to atrocity, if that outrage is maintained at too high a level over too long a time it can generate feelings of impotence, as we permit ourselves

Wiktionary

06

For nearly four miles, between Loch Awe and Taynuilt, the Callander and Oban section of the L.M.S.R. runs through the Pass of Brander, on the lower slopes of Ben Cruachan, beside the swift-flowing Riv

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, awe is marked as archaic, obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.