overwhelm B1 Topic:Actions & Processes US /ˌo.vɚˈʍɛlm/ UK /ˌəʊ.vəˈwɛlm/ See IPA manual Freq #22844 Meanings 1 verb To affect someone so strongly with a feeling that they cannot think or react clearly. She was overwhelmed with joy when she heard the good news. 2 verb To defeat someone completely using greater force or numbers. The enemy troops were overwhelmed by the larger army within hours. 3 verb To give someone far more work or things to deal with than they can handle. New employees are often overwhelmed by the amount of information they receive. 4 verb To flow over and cover something completely. The small boat was overwhelmed by the huge wave. Thesaurus Synonyms 2 verb · to defeat someone... overpowerovermaster 3 verb · to give someone far more... deluge 4 verb · to flow over and cover... swampsubmerge More gripravish ↔ Opposites underwhelm Word family Forms overwhelmedoverwhelms Derived forms overwhelmableoverwhelmeroverwhelming Related forms whelm Etymology AI details Inherited from Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over- + whelm. overwhelmen Middle English View etymology graph -> Topics Actions & Processes External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # overwhelm **Type:** Word **Level:** B1 **Part of speech:** verb **IPA (US):** /ˌo.vɚˈʍɛlm/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌəʊ.vəˈwɛlm/ **Frequency rank:** 22844 ## Meanings 1. To affect someone so strongly with a feeling that they cannot think or react clearly. 2. To defeat someone completely using greater force or numbers. 3. To give someone far more work or things to deal with than they can handle. 4. To flow over and cover something completely. ## Examples - She was overwhelmed with joy when she heard the good news. - The enemy troops were overwhelmed by the larger army within hours. - New employees are often overwhelmed by the amount of information they receive. - The small boat was overwhelmed by the huge wave. ## Synonyms - grip - ravish ## Antonyms - underwhelm ## Derived Forms - overwhelmable - overwhelmer - overwhelming ## Related Forms - whelm ## Roots and Affixes - Root: overwhelmen ## Etymology Inherited from Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over- + whelm. ## AI Etymology Overwhelm is inherited from Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over- + whelm. Modern senses include to affect someone so strongly with a feeling that they cannot think or react clearly and to defeat someone completely using greater force or numbers. The wider word family includes derivatives such as overwhelmable, overwhelmer, and overwhelming and related forms such as whelm. ## Topics - Actions & Processes markdown