ENGLISH
REFERENCE

overwhelming

v.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //ˌoʊvɝˈwɛɫmɪŋ// UK //ˌəʊvəwˈɛlmɪŋ// over·whelm·ing

v. so strong or great that it is difficult to deal with or fight against. You use this when a feeling, a task, or a crowd is too much for you to handle.

v. so intense, great, or numerous as to be irresistible or impossible to manage. Often describes emotional states, physical forces, or numerical superiority.


SIMPLE

The amount of work I have is overwhelming.

CONTEXTUAL

The response to the charity appeal was overwhelming, with thousands of people offering to volunteer their time.

COMPLEX

Faced with overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in less than two hours.

Synonyms
Origin

By surface analysis, overwhelm + -ing.

Usage

Commonly used to modify nouns representing emotions, tasks, or physical sensations.

Pitfall

I feel very overwhelmed by the newsThe news is overwhelmingLearners often confuse the -ing adjective (the cause) with the -ed adjective (the person's feeling).

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