What's the difference between awe and overawe?

Awe


Definition:

  • (n.) Dread; great fear mingled with respect.
  • (n.) The emotion inspired by something dreadful and sublime; an undefined sense of the dreadful and the sublime; reverential fear, or solemn wonder; profound reverence.
  • (v. t.) To strike with fear and reverence; to inspire with awe; to control by inspiring dread.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "I wanted it to have a romantic feel," says Wilson, "recalling Donald Campbell and his Bluebird machines and that spirit of awe-inspiring adventure."
  • (2) I have had the awe-inducing pleasure of standing alone among the giant trees, both sequoias and redwoods, and hearing nothing but the chatter of the squirrels and the high wind in the tallest branches.
  • (3) Let’s leave that discussion to another day, but imagine a combination of the two – sort of Transformers meets Ex Machina – in which a race of giant sexy robots battles it out with another race of really mean giant sexy robots while paltry human beings look on in awe, and teenage boys (and girls) experience incredibly conflicting and disturbing sensual awakenings in the front row of the Beckenham Odeon.
  • (4) But as a professional engineer, Alwash admits to having been in awe at what Saddam's men had done.
  • (5) An activist has discipline, goals and strategy.” Amy K. Nelson (@AmyKNelson) Amazing scene here at QuickTrip: exiled Tibetan monks here & people are in awe, hugging them, wanting photos.
  • (6) From where he stood, the Real Madrid coach watched in awe as barely metres away Gareth Bale started the sprint that ended with him scoring what he admitted was the "biggest" goal of his career: a 50-metre gallop that won the Copa del Rey for Real Madrid .
  • (7) The world is in awe of China’s relentless capacity to produce gargantuan cities, each outdoing the most recent superlative that describes its predecessor.
  • (8) He’s sensitive, intelligent, rather awe-inspiring and slightly frightening, but he is a real person, you can get really involved in him.
  • (9) One day they hope to recreate a full-size, ocean-going replica Roskilde 6, and send it across the sea to awe rather than to terrorise the coasts of the British Isles.
  • (10) Are we fighting for a better understanding of what is going on in our sport or are we trying to get power?’” Saddique Shaban (@SaddiqueShaban) No let up in Kenyan athletes siege at Roadha House as besieged officials watch in awe.
  • (11) But it was awe-inspiring to watch Rivers try: she had the stamina of someone (several someones) a fraction of her age.
  • (12) Of course a father looking at the ultrasound image of his gestating, 20-week-old daughters is going to feel love and awe and the majesty of life, and deeply feel that those are his babies and that they are people.
  • (13) Despite pressure from leaders in Europe and across the world – from David Cameron to Barack Obama – the ECB has resisted calls for a "shock and awe" intervention in the bond markets to support countries such as Italy and Spain, which have seen their borrowing costs soar in the past two weeks.
  • (14) A surgical intervention is dangerous for the old patient awing to the reduced reactiveness and polymorbity.
  • (15) Malton says she is "in awe" of how he goes about the work.
  • (16) The right has spent almost every moment of the last six years painting leftists as people gazing in blissful awe at Obama.
  • (17) When Spielberg asked him to design the mothership for the climax of Close Encounters, the artist drew on a dream from years earlier, in which he had seen an awe-inspiring spacecraft with pipes and stairways jutting out from its underside.
  • (18) He liked the band, and we gave him $10,000, which was probably a big influence.” Their second (far more unlikely) collaboration with P-Funk main man Clinton was such a success that the mere mention of his name sends the band into a love-glow of awe.
  • (19) Only a rare few have accomplished this noble journey and can attest to the feeling of awe that accompanies such a moment in one’s life.
  • (20) Yet in the face of the country’s political and media establishment warning Greeks to vote yes – echoing every major European leader (and quite a few faceless ones) – and the shock-and-awe tactics of the European Central Bank in pulling the plug on Greek banks , the country still delivered a loud no to austerity, troika-style.

Overawe


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To awe exceedingly; to subjugate or restrain by awe or great fear.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) There is a real stunned silence in that room, people are overawed."
  • (2) "It looked like we were overawed and I don't know why," he said.
  • (3) Continued to fight but was starved of the ball once City scored Ki Sung-yueng 6 Retained possession well in the first half and kept things ticking along for Sunderland although, as the game progressed, became slightly overawed in midfield Sebastian Larsson 6 Scurried around for the hour that he was on the pitch.
  • (4) "People feel overawed by the internet and what they turn up when they are searching," said Highfield.
  • (5) "We have been overawed by the amount of support and practical help from people in Bristol - and especially her close friends Emma and Becky.
  • (6) It wasn’t just that she was overawed by the spectacle, although she was: stuff I took for granted – lasers, pyrotechnics, confetti cannons, all the usual bells and whistles of a big pop show – were a constant source of overwhelming sensory overload.
  • (7) Maybe he was overawed by playing alongside Iago Aspas.
  • (8) Lord Dyson, the Master of the Rolls, has described to the justice select committee how unrepresented litigants often “dry up” and become overawed by court procedures, failing to present their claims adequately.
  • (9) The first album I'd ever bought was Ziggy Stardust and I owned all his others, so it was overawing, but he was really generous as a performer.
  • (10) While some teenagers may feel overawed at such an incredible trajectory of progress, Okoye takes it in his stride.
  • (11) Their fairly comfortable (we'll get to Michael Gspurning…) victory over a rather overawed Colorado Rapids sees them coming into tonight's game hoping that the playoffs are something of a fresh start.
  • (12) Never overawed 7 Andros Townsend Direct and eager in possession to test Azpilicueta, plenty of urgency down the flank, although unable to conjure a telling delivery 6 Christian Eriksen Belted an early free-kick on to the bar to promise much but, thereafter, was otherwise peripheral where Spurs needed him to be integral 5 Nacer Chadli Should offer so much more given his physique but he air-kicked at his best opportunity and only offered occasional flashes of his quality 5 Harry Kane Dropped deep to inspire two early chances, dribbling at panicked opponents, but denied a goal by Terry’s fine block 6
  • (13) From "the ritual of the hunt; the pomp of assizes (and all the theatrical power of the law courts); the segregated pews, the late entries and early departures at church" to the splendour of their wealth and hauteur of bearing and expression – all was a performance calculated to overawe the vulgar and extract deference.
  • (14) On Sunday, we will have a pre-game training session and on Monday we will have our normal preparation for a normal game.” Middlesbrough are not likely to be overawed by the occasion: this season, they were outstanding in beating Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad in the FA Cup, and were unlucky to go out of the Capital One Cup to Liverpool 14-13 on penalties after a pulsating 2-2 draw at Anfield.
  • (15) US Open 2015: Johanna Konta ready for tough encounter with Andrea Petkovic Read more With her long black socks, tattooed arms and orange dyed hair, Mattek-Sands appeared a player not overawed by the spotlight and she exploded out of the blocks under the lights of Arthur Ashe.
  • (16) It was all too much for an overawed Kernodle, who never turned up, but the remaining three delivered a sparse, vibrant rendition of a brand new Cash song, Hey Porter.
  • (17) My theory is that people who come into Downing Street are quite often overawed by being here.
  • (18) Yet Bilic is counting on his players to rise to the occasion, rather than be overawed by it.
  • (19) Initially, the Welsh team seemed to find it hard to play to John Charles, almost as if they were overawed.
  • (20) "The height and breadth of them is breathtaking and you really do feel overawed when you're standing beneath them."

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