What does awestricken mean?
"Awestricken" is an adjective describing someone overwhelmed by awe — that blend of wonder, reverence, and amazement aroused by something vast, beautiful, or extraordinary. A person might be left awestricken by the Grand Canyon, a soaring piece of music, a heroic act, or a glimpse of the cosmos through a telescope. In meaning it is identical to "awestruck," which is by far the more common form; "awestricken" survives chiefly as a literary variant, borrowing the "-stricken" ending familiar from words like "grief-stricken" and "panic-stricken," as though awe were something that strikes a person like a blow. The word is built from "awe," whose older English senses included genuine fear and dread before gradually softening into reverent wonder. Because of this history, "awestricken" often retains a slightly solemn, elevated tone, making it well suited to descriptions of sublime landscapes, sacred spaces, and moments of profound admiration.
adjectiveFilled with or overwhelmed by awe; struck with wonder, reverence, or amazement. It is a less common variant of the more widely used "awestruck."
- Overwhelmed by or filled with awe — feeling reverent wonder, amazement, or admiration in the presence of something grand, beautiful, powerful, or extraordinary.
"She stood awestricken before the cathedral's towering stained-glass windows."
"The hikers stood awestricken as the northern lights unfurled across the sky."
"He fell awestricken and silent upon entering the ancient temple for the first time."
"Awestricken" borrows its shape from "stricken" — the same ending used for grief and disease — as if wonder itself were something that could strike you down.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of awestricken
"Awestricken" combines "awe," a word inherited from Old Norse via Middle English where it originally denoted fear and dread, with the suffix-like element "-stricken," modeled on compounds such as "grief-stricken" and "terror-stricken" that describe someone as having been struck by an emotion. The compound arose in English alongside its sibling "awestruck," which has become the dominant form. Its cognates are essentially the wider family of "-stricken" emotional compounds, all expressing an emotion experienced as sudden and overwhelming.
How awestricken is actually used
"Awestricken" functions identically to "awestruck," which is the preferred and much more frequent spelling in both British and American English; writers who use "awestricken" typically do so stylistically. The word carries an almost invariably positive connotation of reverent wonder rather than fear.
Easily confused with awestricken
"Awestruck" is the standard, far more common form of the adjective, while "awestricken" is a rarer variant built on the same sense of being overwhelmed by awe.