awes

Verb

awe (third-person singular simple present awes, present participle awing or aweing, simple past and past participle awed)

1. (transitive) 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.1922, Michael Arlen, “1/1/3”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

   Synonyms:

   enthral, enthrall, overwhelm

2. (transitive) 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.1982 August 21, Bob Nelson, “Harnessing Our Anger”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 6, page 5

See all 9 meanings of awe