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Awe

Psychology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Overwhelming wonder or reverence, often inspired by beauty or grandeur.

Detailed Definition
Awe blends fear and admiration in response to vastness or transcendence. Poets invoke awe to connect the human soul to the sublime—whether in nature, love, or the divine—using elevated language and expansive imagery to evoke humility and existential reflection.
Example
Example in poetry:
In William Wordsworth’s “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey,” awe arises from nature’s sublime power to elevate the soul; In Mary Oliver’s “When I Am Among the Trees,” awe is expressed through reverence for the natural world’s quiet wisdom; In Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Mont Blanc,” the mountain evokes awe as a symbol of immense, indifferent power; In Tracy K. Smith’s “The United States Welcomes You,” awe mixes with dread in the face of cosmic scale; In Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty,” awe celebrates God’s creation in “dappled things”; In Ocean Vuong’s “Ode to Masturbation,” awe emerges in the sacredness of solitary self-discovery.
Additional Notes
Awe—a blend of wonder, reverence, and fear—connects to the sublime (Burke, Kant) and spiritual experience; in poetry, it often arises from nature (Wordsworth), cosmic scale (Smith), or the sacred (Hopkins); differs from mere admiration by its overwhelming, self-dissolving quality; poets use expansive syntax, elevated diction, or sensory overload to evoke it; for students, awe can signal moments of transcendence or ecological awareness; note its dual valence: inspiring yet destabilizing.
Also Known As
Wonder Awe-struckness Reverence Amazement Terror
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