overwhelming

English

Etymology

By surface analysis, overwhelm +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈ(h)wɛlmɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈ(h)wɛlmɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

overwhelming

1. present participle and gerund of overwhelm

Adjective

overwhelming (comparative more overwhelming, superlative most overwhelming)

1. Overpowering, staggering, or irresistibly strong.
   • 1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC:

     The vote was taken at once, and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that rats were comrades.

   • 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 754:

     It is this stretch which provides what is perhaps the most staggering scenic prospect of all; the impression made on the mind by the overwhelming height of the Eiger, towering over the train, is almost impossible to describe.

   • 1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull:

     God is an overwhelming responsibility.

2. Very great or intense.
3. Extreme.

Antonyms

• underwhelming

Derived terms

• overwhelmingly
• overwhelmingness

Translations

overpowering

Arabic: غَالِب (ḡālib) Bengali: গালিব (bn) (galibo) Bulgarian: съкрушителен (bg) (sǎkrušitelen) Catalan: aclaparador Chinese: Mandarin: 压倒性的 (yā dǎo xìng de) Dutch: overweldigend (nl) Finnish: musertava (fi) French: accablant (fr) Galician: grumón m, asoballante (gl), témero m Georgian: უძლეველი (uʒleveli), დაუძლეველი (dauʒleveli), გადამეტებული (gadameṭebuli) German: überwältigend (de) Greek: συντριπτικός (el) (syntriptikós) Hungarian: túlnyomó (hu), elsöprő (hu), (distressing) megterhelő (hu), nyomasztó (hu) Icelandic: feikilegur (is) Indonesian: kewalahan (id) Italian: schiacciante (it), soverchiante (it), incredibile (it), straordinario (it) Norwegian: Bokmål: overveldende Nynorsk: overveldande Portuguese: irresistivelmente forte, exageradamente maior, esmagador (pt), avassalador (pt) Romanian: copleșitor (ro), covârșitor (ro) Russian: ошеломля́ющий (ru) (ošelomljájuščij), подавля́ющий (ru) (podavljájuščij) Spanish: abrumador (es), agobiante (es), imponente (es), apabullante (es), avasallador (es), arrollador (es), aplastante (es) Swedish: överväldigande (sv) Turkish: baskın (tr), ezici (tr), çok büyük, kahir (tr) Vietnamese: đại (vi)

Noun

overwhelming (plural overwhelmings)

1. A situation of being overwhelmed.
   • 2013, David Ford, Theology: A Very Short Introduction, page 9:

     They have centuries of premodern experience in coping with being overwhelmed in multiple ways—not only by God, but also by other overwhelmings that have always been part of the human condition, such as disease, famine, war […]