overwhelmed
Americanadjective
-
completely overcome in mind or feeling.
She told the overwhelmed and sobbing mother she would take care of all medical expenses.
-
loaded, filled, or addressed with an excessive amount of anything.
Over 100 dogs were transported to other parts of the state from overwhelmed animal shelters on the coast.
-
overpowered or crushed, as by superior forces.
The aim of the coalition's operation was to stop the dictator and his army from attacking already overwhelmed rebel troops.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of overwhelmed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Overwhelmed by guilt, and embarrassed she fled the country in a bid to escape her unhappiness, booking a one-way ticket to Bangok.
From BBC • Jan. 26, 2026
Overwhelmed health workers rushed from patient to patient in makeshift tents in Sudan, trying to help even though they too had barely escaped the fall of El-Fasher to paramilitary forces.
From Barron's • Nov. 24, 2025
Overwhelmed by these exotic sights, this visitor completely overlooked the presence of small, shrew-like mammals—the very creatures whose descendants would, eventually, inherit the earth.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2025
Overwhelmed by the number of ailing birds, the wildlife center has been erecting pup tents to use as pens, she said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2024
Overwhelmed by the unpleasantness of the occasion and the bothersome hard collar, José Arcadio Buendía confirmed the fact that Remedios, indeed, was the chosen one.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
