overwhelm
verb
Did you know?
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
Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 24 Oct. 2025
She could be overwhelmed by small voltage shifts or tiny bits of stress—like making sure someone had put the potatoes in the oven on time.
—Nicholas Thompson, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2025
In the finale, overwhelmed with guilt, Louis goes to a train station and contemplates suicide.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 23 Oct. 2025
Elderly patients deserve products that soothe without overwhelming.
—Jahan Marcu, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overwhelm
Cite this Entry
“Overwhelm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overwhelm. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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overwhelm
verb
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