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
City dwellers face a particularly nasty flooding threat from rainfall: Overwhelmed stormwater systems can regurgitate raw sewage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 10, 2025
Overwhelmed with customers during the Labor Day weekend, Gonzalez was unable to keep to her plan to buy a lottery scratcher on her lunch break, she told The Times in an interview.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2024
“I’m just not so sure anymore. She could be bored in Peace. Or exhausted in Progress. Overwhelmed in Pleasure!”
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
