awe
/ɔː/noun, verb
awe is spelled A-W-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “aw vs awe” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, awe means “A feeling of fear and reverence” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of awe is awes.
How many letters and syllables are in awe?
| Letters | 3: A-W-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 6.3 times per million words; the 9,594th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is awe?
Awe appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce awe?
- UK /ɔː/
- UK [ɔ̝ː] ~ [o̞ː]
- British /oː/
Awe has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-awe.ogg, En-us-awe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with awe
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: aw, o'er, oar, or, ore (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with awe?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as awe from its last stressed vowel (/ɔ/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: wae, eaw.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of awe
- awes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- awing participle, present
- aweing participle, present
- awed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does awe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A feeling of fear and reverence.
- 2
A feeling of amazement.
- 3
archaicPower to inspire awe.
- 4
obsoleteA bucket (blade) attached to water wheels.
verb
- 1
To inspire fear and reverence in.
- 2
To control by inspiring dread.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Awe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | crainte, révérence , admiration |
| German | Ehrfurcht , Staunen , einschüchtern |
| Portuguese | temor , espanto, admiração |
| Spanish | pavor, temor, medrosía , asombro , asombrar, abrumar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does awe come from?
From Middle English aw, awe, agh, awȝe, borrowed from Old Norse agi, from Proto-Germanic *agaz (“terror, dread”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂egʰ- (“to be upset, afraid”). Displaced native Middle English eye, eyȝe, ayȝe, eȝȝe, from Old English ege, æge (“fear, terror, dread”), from the same Proto-Germanic root.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).