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.
Slaughter doesn’t sound overwhelmed about being thrust into the starting role.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The court heard that the size of the hoard recovered from MacPherson's home was so large it had "overwhelmed" officers' capacity to check and categorise it.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
Two Auschwitz survivors are still overwhelmed, 60 years later, when they describe finding each other in the Lutetia’s lobby in 1945.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Readers may at times feel overwhelmed by Mr. Hoffman’s research, including pages of statistics and a tone that can at times be didactic or hectoring due to the urgency of his environmental case.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The first several times I had gone to the White City, I had been awed and overwhelmed by its beauty.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
