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.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 verb · to defeat someone... overpower overmaster

3 verb · to give someone far more... deluge

4 verb · to flow over and cover... swamp submerge

More grip ravish

Opposites

underwhelm

Word family

Forms overwhelmedoverwhelms

Derived forms overwhelmableoverwhelmeroverwhelming

Related forms whelm

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over- + whelm.

overwhelmen Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# 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

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