overwhelm
verb
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Let’s face it: life can get overwhelming. A person might be overwhelmed by a sensory experience or emotion; a city might be overwhelmed by an influx of tourists. Things can underwhelm, too: a bland meal, a bare wall, a lackluster playlist. But how often does an experience just, well, whelm you? The answer, unassumingly, is just as often as one overwhelms you—the two verbs are in fact largely synonymous. Both come from Middle English whelmen, meaning "to overturn," and overwhelm has always been more popular, perhaps because the emphatic redundancy of overwhelm makes it seem more apt for describing reactions to powerful forces or feelings.
Examples of overwhelm in a Sentence
Asaf Kochan, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
The threat on European alcohol overwhelmed the positive inflation news.
—Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2025
However, Conquest overwhelms her, cleaves her jaw off and punches a hole through her stomach in mere seconds.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 14 Mar. 2025
Flashback: Hospitals in NWA, like much of the country, were overwhelmed by the number of COVID-19 patients and struggled with staffing.
—Alex Golden, Axios, 14 Mar. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Overwhelm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overwhelm. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
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overwhelm
verb
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