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
David Denby, New Yorker, 23 May 2025
The ‘Willy Wonka’ phase A sweet, sugary smell overwhelms the next pod at Goodblend.
Gummies in hues of orange, red, yellow, green and blue sit on parchment paper a metal tray.
—Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 May 2025
With a movie star on deck and a daughter of stars across from him, there’s an air of showboating that overwhelms nuance.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 20 May 2025
This is the season to embrace perfumes that don’t overwhelm but rather float on the skin, enhancing your natural allure with every warm breeze.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 20 May 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 4 Jun. 2025.
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overwhelm
verb
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