Awe-inspiring
What it means
So impressive, beautiful, or powerful that it creates profound wonder.
Reach for it when reserving the strongest praise for an experience that genuinely humbles
The canyon offered an awe-inspiring view at sunrise.
Words to choose between 6
| playful | |
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| everyday | |
| warm |
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| formal | |
| literary |
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playful
staggering
Fits when scale or achievement overwhelms expectation
Careful Staggering can describe a shocking cost or failure and needs clear context.
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everyday
Fits when the visual display is unusually impressive
Careful Spectacular can be flashy without producing reflection or reverence.
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warm
Fits when beauty or scale produces an immediate physical reaction
Careful Breathtaking is frequently promotional and can feel routine in formal description.
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formal
Fits when splendid quality warrants elevated approval
Careful Magnificent praises excellence but does not necessarily describe the viewer's awe.
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literary
Fits when dignified grandeur is the defining quality
Careful Majesty is stately and does not fit every ingenious or intimate source of awe.
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literary
Fits when beauty and magnitude exceed ordinary comprehension
Careful Sublime carries philosophical weight and can sound pretentious in casual praise.
Opposites 3
- ordinary
- underwhelming
- uninspiring
Common phrases 3
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awe-inspiring view
The ridge revealed an awe-inspiring view of the glacier.
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awe-inspiring achievement
Mapping the genome was an awe-inspiring achievement.
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truly awe-inspiring
The choir's unamplified final chord was truly awe-inspiring.
Definitions and examples are written for this site. How words are chosen Recording: Vealhurl, Southern England accent, from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 Updated