underawe

present singular third person underawes · participle present underawing · participle past underawed · past underawed

1. To fail to inspire the intended degree of awe.

   Thurston Dart was a man suitably underawed by military reputations and he did not hesitate to engage in light-hearted banter with his Principal.

   2003, Roy Fullick, Shan Hackett: The Pursuit of Exactitude, page 202

   2 more examples

   The absence of a conventional field force of any weight could only serve to underawe the Nazi and Fascist leaderships, ever ready to subjugate a lesser neighbor if an opportunity arose.

   2000, Robert J. Caputi, Neville Chamberlain and Appeasement, →ISBN, page 145

   He looked handsome and elegant at the podium, his deep tan contrasting nicely with his white tie, but, either overawed or underawed by the occasion (perhaps a little of both), he failed at first to make contact with the industry crowd, many of whom had welcomed him back to stardom on Oscar night 1954.

   2015, James Kaplan, Sinatra: The Chairman, →ISBN