deluge

[ del-yooj, -yoozh, del-ooj, -oozh, dih-looj, -loozh ]

noun

1. a great flood of water; inundation; flood.
2. a drenching rain; downpour.
3. anything that overwhelms like a flood:

   a deluge of mail.

   Synonyms: catastrophe, cataclysm

4. the Deluge. flood ( def 3 ).

verb (used with object)

, del·uged, del·ug·ing.

1. to flood; inundate.
2. to overrun; overwhelm:

   She was deluged with congratulatory letters.

Deluge

¹

/ ˈdɛljuːdʒ /

noun

1. the Deluge
   another name for the Flood

deluge

²

/ ˈdɛljuːdʒ /

noun

1. a great flood of water
2. torrential rain; downpour
3. an overwhelming rush or number

   a deluge of requests

verb

1. to flood, as with water; soak, swamp, or drown
2. to overwhelm or overrun; inundate

Other Words From

• un·deluged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of deluge¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French, from Latin dīluvium “flood,” equivalent to dīluv-, base of dīluere “to wash away, dissolve” ( dī- di ² + -luere, combining form of lavere “to wash”) + -ium -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of deluge¹

C14: from Old French, from Latin dīluvium a washing away, flood, from dīluere to wash away, drench, from di- dis- ¹+ -luere, from lavere to wash

Synonym Study

See flood.

Example Sentences

Official data of damages to hog inventory have yet to be released, but videos and photos of dead pigs and flooded pens suggest farms did not escape the deluge.

From Ozy

The deluge of requests effectively causes the site to shut down.

From Fortune

It also comes amid a deluge of misinformation on the various platforms, with politicians including the President trying to discredit mail-in voting.

From Fortune

Because the deluge of technical reports from human rights groups, the WhatsApp lawsuit, and increasing governmental scrutiny threaten NSO’s status quo.

From MIT Technology Review

Coronavirus has caused a data deluge, and not all of the information is as accurate, objective, or up-to-date as it seems.

From Quartz

Unfortunately, the deluge of details weighs the book down in parts.

From The Daily Beast

Divorce ensued, along with a deluge of humiliating media coverage.

From The Daily Beast

The deluge comes from the ceiling, where excess rainwater has worked its way into the subway car from outside.

From The Daily Beast

As Barbara Walters might say—that is, if she were echoing French King Louis XV—“Apres moi, le deluge.”

From The Daily Beast

Meanwhile, the deluge of rain continues, in fits and starts.

From The Daily Beast

So the three Babcocks departed, and the silence which succeeded her deluge of words was soothing to her hosts beyond expression.

From Project Gutenberg

Crash went the collection of literature, and Welcome fell back on the floor of the stall, half-covered by a deluge of books.

From Project Gutenberg

There were only about four hundred years between the Deluge and the period at which we fix Abraham's journey into Egypt.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the Jew would have displayed his ten generations, down to the time of Noah, and the secret of the universal deluge.

From Project Gutenberg

And so they were caught fairly and squarely by the deluge that swept upon them with a bewildering suddenness.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• avalanche
• barrage
• cataclysm
• inundation
• spate
• torrent