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Awe
Emotion comparable to wonder / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder[1] but less joyous. On Robert Plutchik's wheel of emotions[2] awe is modeled as a combination of surprise and fear.
![painting of a man staring at an awe-inspiring mountain landscape](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/John_Martin_-_Destruction_of_Tyre_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg/640px-John_Martin_-_Destruction_of_Tyre_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
One dictionary definition is "an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: [e.g.] in awe of God; in awe of great political figures."[3] Another dictionary definition is a "mixed emotion of reverence, respect, dread, and wonder inspired by authority, genius, great beauty, sublimity, or might: [e.g.] We felt awe when contemplating the works of Bach. The observers were in awe of the destructive power of the new weapon."[4][verification needed]
In general, awe is directed at objects considered to be more powerful than the subject, such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Grand Canyon, the vastness of the cosmos, or a deity.[5]