overwhelmed

adjective

over·​whelmed ˌō-vər-ˈ(h)welmd 

1

: overcome by force or numbers

Some jurisdictions are so overwhelmed that they are experimenting with routing school-children into specially designed courts that would keep first-time offenders from being saddled with an arrest record.

—Gary Fields and John R. Emshwiller

Only three Coast Guard rescue helicopters had managed to get into the air, and each was already overwhelmed by dozens of calls for help.

—Christopher Cooper and Robert Block

"We were overwhelmed," said John Robinson, the Rams' coach. "Clearly dominated."

—Paul Zimmerman

2

: completely overcome or overpowered by thought or feeling

When he first appeared in full regalia, I was overwhelmed.

—Jane Davison

Suddenly he felt overwhelmed by a wash of terror.

—Holly Black

He finds that the institutions that might compensate for what overwhelmed parents are unable to do are themselves undermined by stingy public policies.

—Lisbeth B. Schorr

Examples of overwhelmed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Since then, Denver, Chicago and New York — who'd been overwhelmed with asylum seekers — reported a sharp drop in migrants in shelters. —Jennifer Ludden, NPR, 27 Dec. 2024

Dobbins finally gets good fortunes in his quick recovery after a young career that has already been overwhelmed with injury problems. —David Faris, Newsweek, 27 Dec. 2024

Do your best not to become overwhelmed by the one-upmanship that sometimes occurs during the holiday season. —Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2024

One team who had lost their sense of control and felt overwhelmed comes to mind as an example. —Vlad Dutescu, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1