VocabauraVOCABAURA

awed

adjective

Simple meaning

Having or showing a feeling of mixed reverence and respect and wonder and dread.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awd
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Having or showing a feeling of mixed reverence and respect and wonder and dread

    “Stood in awed silence before the shrine.”

  2. Having or showing awe.

  3. Filled with awe.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Having or showing a feeling of mixed reverence and respect and wonder and dread

Used this way, awed is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.

Heard in a sentence
“Stood in awed silence before the shrine.”
Emotional tone
Negative
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Gentle
How common
Common
Connotation
Serious and weighty
Usage feel
Everyday but emotionally strong

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use awed

  • “Stood in awed silence before the shrine.”adjective

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “awed”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

awed voicesomewhat awedawed respectawed tone

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Keep learning “awed” by choosing the kind of practice you need next.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.