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Q&A Is there a dialog tag for when someone is saying something in awe?

"Wooow!" they marvelled. To marvel is the word that comes to my mind in this case. But in general you should realize that often it's not that important to find the one word to describe some...

posted 6y ago by Secespitus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T23:01:20Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33448
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:01:12Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/33448
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T08:01:12Z (almost 5 years ago)
> "Wooow!" they **marvelled**.

_To marvel_ is the word that comes to my mind in this case.

But in general you should realize that often it's not that important to find the _one word to describe something_. It may be hard for your audience to understand - after all it's hard for you to come up with it. There is a difference between active and passive vocabulary, but the point still stands. Have a look at my answer to [Describing body language?](https://writing.stackexchange.com/a/33427/23159) for a longer discussion about always trying to find the _one word_.

You may want to consider some longer alternatives, such as:

> "Wooow" they exclaimed in awe of what they just saw.

or

> "Wooow" they said, smitten with amazement.

or

> "Wooow" they exclaimed in an astonished voice.

or

> "Wooow" they said, amazed by what they had just seen.

Often _to say_ is good enough if you then proceed to describe in detail how your character reacts.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-02-20T14:12:32Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 18