In the highest sense, to revere or reverence is to hold in mingled love and honor with something of sacred fear, as for that which while lovely is sublimely exalted and brings upon us by contrast a sense of our unworthiness or inferiority; to revere is a wholly spiritual act; to reverence is often, tho not necessarily, to give outward expression to the reverential feeling; we revere or reverence the divine majesty. Revere is a stronger word than reverence or venerate. To venerate is to hold in exalted honor without fear, and is applied to objects less removed from ourselves than those we revere, being said especially of aged persons, of places or objects having sacred associations, and of abstractions; we venerate an aged pastor, the dust of heroes or martyrs, lofty virtue or self-sacrifice, or some great cause, as that of civil or religious liberty; we do not venerate God, but revere or reverence him. We adore with a humble yet free outflowing of soul. Compare [VENERATION].
Antonyms:
| contemn, | detest, | dishonor, | scoff at, | slight, |
| despise, | disdain, | disregard, | scorn, | spurn. |
VENERATION.
Synonyms:
| adoration, | awe, | dread, | reverence. |
Awe is inspired by that in which there is sublimity or majesty so overwhelming as to awaken a feeling akin to fear; in awe, considered by itself, there is no element of esteem or affection, tho the sense of vastness, power, or grandeur in the object is always present. Dread is a shrinking apprehension or expectation of possible harm awakened by any one of many objects or causes, from that which is overwhelmingly vast and mighty to that which is productive of momentary physical pain; in its higher uses dread approaches the meaning of awe, but with more of chilliness and cowering, and without that subjection of soul to the grandeur[367] and worthiness of the object that is involved in awe. Awe is preoccupied with the object that inspires it; dread with apprehension of personal consequences. Reverence and veneration are less overwhelming than awe or dread, and suggest something of esteem, affection, and personal nearness. We may feel awe of that which we can not reverence, as a grandly terrible ocean storm; awe of the divine presence is more distant and less trustful than reverence. Veneration is commonly applied to things which are not subjects of awe. Adoration, in its full sense, is loftier than veneration, less restrained and awed than reverence, and with more of the spirit of direct, active, and joyful worship. Compare [ESTEEM]; [VENERATE].
Antonyms:
| contempt, | disdain, | dishonor, | disregard, | scorn. |