Aweing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Feeling a profound sense of admiration mixed with fear or wonder, often in response to something grand or sublime
2. Experiencing a strong emotional reaction characterized by respect and amazement towards something magnificent or powerful
3. Being struck by an overwhelming combination of reverence and amazement, typically in the presence of something impressive or extraordinary

Etymology: Before "awe" meant reverence, it meant fear. Its Old English ancestor, "ege", meant fear, terror or dread, and it shares its Proto-Germanic root with that older sense. The wonder that "awe" now names grew out of that terror, so the sense of being overwhelmed by something vast or powerful has always been part of it. In Middle English, "awe" was borrowed from Old Norse and displaced the native "eye", the descendant of Old English "ege" that had carried the same dread. "Aweing" is the form of the verb meaning to fill someone with that mix of fear and reverence, as in a view that is aweing.

Synonyms: respecting, admiring, revering, fearing, honoring

Antonyms: disrespecting, despising, daring