overwhelm
verb/ˌəʊvəˈwelm/
/ˌəʊvərˈwelm/
[often passive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they overwhelm | /ˌəʊvəˈwelm/ /ˌəʊvərˈwelm/ |
| he / she / it overwhelms | /ˌəʊvəˈwelmz/ /ˌəʊvərˈwelmz/ |
| past simple overwhelmed | /ˌəʊvəˈwelmd/ /ˌəʊvərˈwelmd/ |
| past participle overwhelmed | /ˌəʊvəˈwelmd/ /ˌəʊvərˈwelmd/ |
| -ing form overwhelming | /ˌəʊvəˈwelmɪŋ/ /ˌəʊvərˈwelmɪŋ/ |
- overwhelm somebody to have such a strong emotional effect on somebody that it is difficult for them to resist or know how to react synonym overcome
- She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt.
- The beauty of the landscape overwhelmed me.
Extra Examples- She felt completely overwhelmed.
- We were totally overwhelmed by the response to our appeal.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- absolutely
- completely
- totally
- …
- threaten to
- with
- overwhelmed by something
- absolutely overwhelmed
- completely overwhelmed
- …
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- overwhelm somebody to defeat somebody completely synonym overpower
- The army was overwhelmed by the rebels.
- He totally overwhelmed the Spaniard, 6–2, 6–3,6–2, in the final.
- overwhelm somebody to be so bad or so great that a person cannot deal with it; to give too much of a thing to a person
- We were overwhelmed by requests for information.
Extra Examples- The children pressed around him eagerly, overwhelming him with questions.
- She thinks she knows all the answers and always overwhelms me with advice.
- The office was overwhelmed by the volume of work that was required.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- absolutely
- completely
- totally
- …
- threaten to
- with
- overwhelmed by something
- absolutely overwhelmed
- completely overwhelmed
- …
- overwhelm somebody/something (literary) (of water) to cover somebody/something completely synonym flood
- The wave broke through the wall and overwhelmed the town.
Check pronunciation:
overwhelm