What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Awe vs Trepidation - What's the difference?

awe | trepidation | Synonyms |

As nouns the difference between awe and trepidation

is that awe is a feeling of fear and reverence while trepidation is a fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern.

As a verb awe

is to inspire fear and reverence in.

awe

English

Noun

(-)
  • A feeling of fear and reverence.
  • A feeling of amazement.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Chapter IV
  • For several minutes no one spoke; I think they must each have been as overcome by awe as was I. All about us was a flora and fauna as strange and wonderful to us as might have been those upon a distant planet had we suddenly been miraculously transported through ether to an unknown world.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
  • , author=Anna Lena Phillips , title=Sneaky Silk Moths , volume=100, issue=2, page=172 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.}}

    Derived terms

    * awe-inspiring * awesome * awestruck * awful

    Verb

    (aw)
  • To inspire fear and reverence in.
  • * '>citation
  • To control by inspiring dread.
  • Synonyms

    * (inspire reverence) enthral, enthrall; overwhelm

    Derived terms

    * awed * awesome * awe-inspiring * awful

    trepidation

    English

    Noun

    (-)
  • A fearful state; a state of hesitation or concern.
  • I decided, with considerable trepidation , to let him drive my car without me.
  • * 1929 , , Chapter VII, Section vi
  • She opened the drawing-room door in trepidation . Would she find Esther drowned with her head in the goldfish bowl, or hanged from the chandelier by her stay-lace?
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=December 10 , author=Marc Higginson , title=Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The Midlanders will hope the victory will kickstart a campaign that looked to have hit the buffers, but the sense of trepidation enveloping the Reebok Stadium heading into the new year underlines the seriousness of the predicament facing Owen Coyle's men.}}
  • An involuntary trembling, sometimes an effect of paralysis, but usually caused by terror or fear; quaking; quivering.
  • (astronomy, obsolete) A libration of the starry sphere in the Ptolemaic system; a motion ascribed to the firmament, to account for certain small changes in the position of the ecliptic and of the stars.
  • Synonyms

    * (fearful state) agitation, apprehension, consternation, fear, hesitation, worry

    Anagrams

    * *