as in to overwhelm
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress
the student was overmastered by the stress of taking the college placement test and broke down crying
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overmaster
Passion is an intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction.
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Bird Brown, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 Dec. 2019
Jesus’ Son is about the force of addiction and the only thing that can overmaster it: the ecstatic experience of God.
—Longreads, 17 June 2017
Bird Brown, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 Dec. 2019
Jesus’ Son is about the force of addiction and the only thing that can overmaster it: the ecstatic experience of God.
—Longreads, 17 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overmaster
Verb
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Walt Disney Imagineering updated the storyline of Black Widow Bride Constance Hatchway earlier this year by turning her from an axe murderer who beheads her wealthy husbands into a more mournful figure overwhelmed by the dread of lost love.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
13 Oct. 2025
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Over such spans, change overwhelms continuity; too much simply disappears.—
Manvir Singh,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Rough Riders overcame a furious Arlington Heights rally in the third quarter and used a late goal-line stand to shock the Yellow Jackets in a 50-47 thriller.—
Updated October 10,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
10 Oct. 2025
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Johnson’s familiarity is key to bringing audiences close to Kerr and helps the film overcome its potentially alienating storyline.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Public school advocates like William Phillis, a former official at the Ohio Department of Education, fear the change would devastate public schools.—
Megan O’Matz,
ProPublica,
8 Oct. 2025
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However, in places like Crow Creek Tribal School in South Dakota, Superintendent Rob Coverdale says the fee could devastate hiring efforts.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overmaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overmaster. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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