OVERWHELM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overwhelm mean? 

• OVERWHELM (verb)
  The verb OVERWHELM has 4 senses:

1. overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli

2. charge someone with too many tasks

3. cover completely or make imperceptible

4. overcome by superior force

  Familiarity information: OVERWHELM used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERWHELM (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they overwhelm    ... he / she / it overwhelms   
Past simple: overwhelmed   
Past participle: overwhelmed   
-ing form: overwhelming   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

overcome; overpower; overtake; overwhelm; sweep over; whelm

Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overwhelm"):

devastate (overwhelm or overpower)

clutch; get hold of; seize (affect)

kill (overwhelm with hilarity, pleasure, or admiration)

benight (overtake with darkness or night)

knock out (overwhelm with admiration)

stagger (astound or overwhelm, as with shock)

lock (hold fast (in a certain state))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Charge someone with too many tasks

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

deluge; flood out; overwhelm

Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):

burden; charge; saddle (impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cover completely or make imperceptible

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

drown; overwhelm; submerge

Context example:

The noise drowned out her speech

Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):

cover; spread over (form a cover over)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Overcome by superior force

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

overmaster; overpower; overwhelm

Hypernyms (to "overwhelm" is one way to...):

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "overwhelm"):

steamroll; steamroller (overwhelm by using great force)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to overwhelm his opponent

 Context examples 

And here the whole thing seemed to overwhelm me in a rush.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

We parted, overwhelmed with grief; and I think Miss Mills enjoyed herself completely.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But the women spoke of the fresh-killed meat he had brought on his back, and this was an overwhelming argument against their unbelief.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis (FAMS) Emotional Well-Being: I feel overwhelmed by my condition.

(FAMS - Feel Overwhelmed by My Condition, NCI Thesaurus)

At this the king was overwhelmed with joy, and made it known throughout all his kingdom, that if his son would come back to his court he would forgive him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I could not bring it into play; it was overwhelmed, buried, lost in those earlier feelings which I had been smarting under year after year.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He was overwhelmed by requests from editors.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

With your emotions stirred, you may feel a little overwhelmed.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) I was completely overwhelmed by my fibromyalgia symptoms.

(FIQR - I was Completely Overwhelmed by My Fibromyalgia Symptoms, NCI Thesaurus)

But the sheer scale of the experiences people could store in memory over our lives creates the risk of being overwhelmed with information.

(Selective amnesia: how rats and humans are able to actively forget distracting memories, University of Cambridge)