overawedadj.

1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answer Catholike English-man 25 The ouer-awed superstition and blinde ignorance of the people.

1648 C. Walker Relations & Observ. ii. 162 The seeming Authority of a pact, unfree, and over-awed House of Parliament.

1794 F. Plowden Short. Hist. Brit. Empire Last Twenty Months 12 Where flattery or servility are the preservatives of existence, truth may not be found in the mouth of the over-awed annalist.

1805 J. Foster Ess. i. iv. 57 Over-awed timidity.

1979 Forbes (Nexis) 16 Apr. 118 One pension administrator for a larger corporation calls them [sc. consultants] ‘hucksters speaking Greek’, of whom overawed pension sponsors are afraid to ask questions.

1995 Face Sept. 60/2 A drunk, over-awed lad comes over and confesses that spotting Graham has made him feel ‘a bit gingery’.

2002 Birmingham Evening Mail (Nexis) 20 Aug. Jack Walker was landlord, but everyone knew that his wife ruled him. ‘I'm a Beaumont, one of the Clitheroe Beaumonts,’ she would tell overawed customers who needed reminding of their place.