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.
Synonyms
Examples of overwhelm in a Sentence
Brian Cassella, Chicago Tribune, 12 Aug. 2024
Heavy rains can overwhelm that system, and when the sewer pipes reach capacity, the wastewater has nowhere to go but the river.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2024
Flash flooding and potential storm surge Tropical storms and hurricanes can trigger river flooding and overwhelm drainage systems and the region's canals.
—CBS News, 3 Aug. 2024
The first full week of the 2024 Paris Olympics has brought moments of overwhelming joy and sometimes sorrow as athletes compete on the world’s biggest stage in front of packed stands.
—Elise Wrabetz, NBC News, 3 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for overwhelm 
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“Overwhelm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overwhelm. Accessed 19 Aug. 2024.
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overwhelm
verb
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