overwhelm

English

Etymology

From over + Middle English whelmen (whelm)

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˌəʊvəˈwɛlm/
• (US) IPA: /ˌoʊvɚˈwɛlm/
• Rhymes: -ɛlm

Verb

to overwhelm (third-person singular simple present overwhelms, present participle overwhelming, simple past and past participle overwhelmed)

1. To engulf, surge-over and submerge

   The dinghy was overwhelmed by the great wave.

2. To overpower, crush

   In December 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland with overwhelming force.

3. To overpower emotionally

   He was overwhelmed with guilt.

   Joy overwhelmed her when she realized that she had won a million dollars.

Derived terms

• overwhelming

Related terms

• whelm

Translations

engulf, surge-over

Catalan: superar Chinese: Mandarin: 吞沒 (zh), 吞没 (zh) (tūnmò)

Finnish: hukuttaa (fi) Polish: zalewać (pl)

to overpower, crush

Catalan: superar Finnish: murskata (fi)

Hungarian: legyőz (hu) Polish: miażdżyć (pl)

overpower emotionally

Catalan: agobiar, superar Chinese: Mandarin: 壓垮 (zh), 压垮 (zh) (yākuǎ), 壓倒 (zh), 压倒 (zh) (yādǎo)

Finnish: täyttyä (fi) Polish: przytłaczać (pl), ogarniać (pl) Spanish: agobiar (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: غلب (ar) (ghaliba) Czech: uchvátit (cs) Danish: overvælde (da) Dutch: overweldigen (nl) (2) French: accabler (fr), dépasser (fr) (1), combler (fr), abreuver (fr) (2)

German: überwältigen (de) (2) Italian: sommergere (it), seppellire (it), sgominare (it), travolgere (it), sopraffare (it), confondere (it), imbarazzare (it) Japanese: 圧倒 (あっとう, attō) Spanish: abrumar (es), agobiar (es) Swedish: överväldiga (sv) Turkish: başından aşmak (tr)