reverent

UK/ˈɹɛv.ə.ɹənt/US/ˈɹɛv.ə.ɹənt/

adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,732 of 15,258neutral

Reverent means showing deep respect. A reverent silence, reverent tones, reverent towards tradition.

It belongs to how something is treated rather than to what is felt, so a reverent silence is one everybody keeps. The opposite, irreverent, is far commoner and is nearly always a compliment about humour.

Definitions of reverent

1adjectivereverentShowing deep respect.C1
“The students listened with reverent attention as the old professor spoke.”

reverent is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin reverens comes from revereri, to stand in awe of, from re- plus vereri, to fear.

Latin
reverēns
Old French
reverent
Middle French
reverent
Middle English
reverent
English, today
reverent

From Middle English reverent, from Middle French reverent (from Old French reverent) and its etymon Latin reverēns. by surface analysis, revere + -ent.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

reverent in the wild

The ancient historian Herodotus cited him as "the best and most honourable man in Athens", and he received similarly reverent treatment in Plato's Socratic dialogues.
Aristides
The Cambridge English Dictionary defines reverent as "showing great respect and admiration", whereas "referent" is typically defined as "the thing that a symbol stands for, or refers to".
Referent power
Bede recorded Cyneberht's information as coming from "the most reverent Bishop Cyneberht".
Cyneberht of Lindsey
The shape of such stones was often quoted as description for the reverent ritual pose.
Sounding stone

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

← Vocabulary