Word.ws English Dictionary

overwhelming

UK/ˌəʊvəˈwɛlmɪŋ//ˌoʊvɚˈwɛlmɪŋ/

overwhelming is the present participle and gerund of overwhelm.

Adjective

overwhelming (comparative more overwhelming, superlative most overwhelming)

  1. Overpowering, staggering, or irresistibly strong.
    • The vote was taken at once, and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that rats were comrades.1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC
    • It is this stretch which provides what is perhaps the most staggering scenic prospect of all; the impression made on the mind by the overwhelming height of the Eiger, towering over the train, is almost impossible to describe.1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 754
  2. Very great or intense.
  3. Extreme.

Meaning of overwhelm

Verb

overwhelm (third-person singular simple present overwhelms, present participle overwhelming, simple past and past participle overwhelmed)

  1. To engulf, surge over and submerge.
    • The dinghy was overwhelmed by the great wave.
    Synonyms:
    swamp
  2. To overpower, crush.
    • In December 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland with overwhelming force.
  3. To overpower emotionally.
    • He was overwhelmed with guilt.
  4. To cause to surround, to cover.
    • I lay Turpentine all over the same: then I overwhelm a broader pipe about the first1684, Denis Papin, Instrument to make turpentine penetrate plaster and wood using the airpump

See all 5 meanings of overwhelm

Noun

overwhelming (plural overwhelmings)

  1. A situation of being overwhelmed.
    • They have centuries of premodern experience in coping with being overwhelmed in multiple ways—not only by God, but also by other overwhelmings that have always been part of the human condition, such as disease, famine, war […]2013, David Ford, Theology: A Very Short Introduction, page 9

Synonyms of overwhelming

Antonyms

Forms of overwhelming

Adjective
comparativemore overwhelming
superlativemost overwhelming
Noun
pluraloverwhelmings

Origin of overwhelming

From overwhelm + -ing.

Words formed from overwhelming

Questions about overwhelming

What does overwhelming mean?
Overwhelming means overpowering, staggering, or irresistibly strong.
What is overwhelming the present participle and gerund of?
Overwhelming is the present participle and gerund of overwhelm.
What part of speech is overwhelming?
Overwhelming can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce overwhelming?
Overwhelming is pronounced /ˌəʊvəˈwɛlmɪŋ/ (UK).

Words near overwhelming in the dictionary

  1. overwhelmable
  2. overwhelmed
  3. overwhelmedness
  4. overwhelmer
  5. overwhelmers
  6. overwhelming
  7. overwhelmingly
  8. overwhelmingness
  9. overwhelmings
  10. overwhelmment
  11. overwhelms

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: overwhelming (page history and authors); overwhelm (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-overwhelming.ogg.

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