overawe
/əʊvəˈɹɔː/
"overawe" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“overawe” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To restrain, subdue, or control by awe; to cow.
Corpus desk
Index EN-overawe · overawe · English
overawe · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | overawe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əʊvəˈɹɔː/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “overawe” in English
Rare enough to double-check
overawe is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /əʊvəˈɹɔː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To restrain, subdue, or control by awe; to cow.".
No misspelling variants are generated for overawe in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From over- + awe. The correct English form is overawe, spelled O-V-E-R-A-W-E.
Definition
- 1To restrain, subdue, or control by awe; to cow.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how overawe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
None doe you like, but an effeminate Prince, Whom like a Schoole-boy you may ouer-awe.
His free and easy carriage evinced, that though acknowledging my assumptions, he was no way overawed by them; treating me as familiarly, indeed, as if I were a mere mortal, one of the abject generation of mushrooms.
Etymology
From over- + awe.
Antonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.