a word for a sight that is amazing and awful [duplicate]

I want to know a word that describes the phenomenon of something being both beautiful and terrible at the same time, like a tsunami or the eye of a tornado.


It's a bit overused these days, obviously, but...

awesome
inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, or fear; causing or inducing awe
Slang. very impressive

...seems to me to be exactly what OP is looking for.


The word awe-inspiring is closer to the old meaning of awesome, without the modern baggage.

From the Wiktionary page on awesome:

The oldest meaning of "awesome" is "something which inspires awe", but the word is also a common slang expression in English, originally from America. As the original meaning of awesome has become somewhat antiquated in general use, the term awe-inspiring is now generally used for the same meaning.