adj
Meaning 1
Overpowering, staggering, or irresistibly strong.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
overwhelming
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌəʊvəˈwɛlmɪŋ/
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Received-Pronunciation: /-ˈʍɛl-/
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Canada, General-American: /ˌoʊvɚˈwɛlmɪŋ/
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Canada, General-American: /-ˈʍɛl-/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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Caribbean: [ˌoːʋaˈwɛlmɪŋ]
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India: [ˌoʋəˈʋɦɛlmɪŋ]
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CMU ARPABET: OW2 V ER0 W EH1 L M IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: OW2 V ER0 HH W EH1 L M IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Very great or intense.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Extreme.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A situation of being overwhelmed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
present participle and gerund of overwhelm
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 6
very intense
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- politics is his consuming passion
- overwhelming joy
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: consuming
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
so strong as to be irresistible
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- an overpowering need for solitude
- the temptation to despair may become overwhelming
- an overwhelming majority
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: overpowering
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
By surface analysis, overwhelm + -ing.
Across languages
Translations
51 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: غَالِب (ḡālib) — overpowering
- Bengali: গালিব (galibo) — overpowering
- Bulgarian: съкрушителен (sǎkrušitelen) — overpowering
- Catalan: aclaparador — overpowering
- Chinese Mandarin: 压倒性的 (yā dǎo xìng de) — overpowering
- Dutch: overweldigend — overpowering
- Esperanto: superforta — overpowering
- Finnish: musertava — overpowering
- French: accablant — overpowering
- Galician: grumón — overpowering
- Galician: asoballante — overpowering
- Galician: témero — overpowering
- Georgian: უძლეველი (uʒleveli) — overpowering
- Georgian: დაუძლეველი (dauʒleveli) — overpowering
- Georgian: გადამეტებული (gadameṭebuli) — overpowering
- German: überwältigend — overpowering
- Greek: συντριπτικός (syntriptikós) — overpowering
- Hungarian: túlnyomó — overpowering
- Hungarian: elsöprő — overpowering
- Hungarian: megterhelő — overpowering
- Hungarian: nyomasztó — overpowering
- Icelandic: feikilegur — overpowering
- Indonesian: kewalahan — overpowering
- Italian: schiacciante — overpowering
- Italian: soverchiante — overpowering
- Italian: incredibile — overpowering
- Italian: straordinario — overpowering
- Norwegian Bokmål: overveldende — overpowering
- Norwegian Nynorsk: overveldande — overpowering
- Portuguese: irresistivelmente forte — overpowering
- Portuguese: exageradamente maior — overpowering
- Portuguese: esmagador — overpowering
- Portuguese: avassalador — overpowering
- Romanian: copleșitor — overpowering
- Romanian: covârșitor — overpowering
- Russian: ошеломля́ющий (ošelomljájuščij) — overpowering
- Russian: подавля́ющий (podavljájuščij) — overpowering
- Spanish: abrumador — overpowering
- Spanish: agobiante — overpowering
- Spanish: apabullante — overpowering
- Spanish: avasallador — overpowering
- Spanish: arrollador — overpowering
- Spanish: contundente — overpowering
- Swedish: överväldigande — overpowering
- Thai: ล้นหลาม (lón-lǎam) — overpowering
- Thai: ท่วมท้น — overpowering
- Turkish: baskın — overpowering
- Turkish: ezici — overpowering
- Turkish: çok büyük — overpowering
- Turkish: kahir — overpowering
- Vietnamese: đại — overpowering
Real reading context