inundated; inundating
Synonyms of inundate

transitive verb

1
: overwhelm
was inundated with phone calls
2
: to cover with a flood : overflow

inundation

2 of 2

noun

plural -s
1
: a rising and spreading of water over land not usually submerged : flood
the threat of inundation by the sea—Lewis Mumford
his tears were not drops but a little inundation down his cheeks—Glenway Wescott
fossil shells give evidence of prehistoric inundations
2
: deluge, swarm
an inundation of telegrams
an inundation of tourists

Did you know?

In the summer of 1993, record rains in the Midwest caused the Mississippi River to overflow its banks, break through levees, and inundate the entire countryside; such an inundation hadn't been seen for at least a hundred years. By contrast, the Nile River inundated its entire valley every year, bringing the rich black silt that made the valley one of the most fertile places on earth. (The inundations ceased with the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1970.) Whenever a critical issue is being debated, the White House and Congressional offices are inundated with phone calls and emails, just as a town may be inundated with complaints when it starts charging a fee for garbage pickup.

Examples of inundate in a Sentence

Verb Rising rivers could inundate low-lying areas. water from the overflowing bathtub inundated the bathroom floor
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
Swaths of southern Utah are inundated Ryan Benally spent the weekend building dirt berms to divert floodwaters from his parents’ home on the Navajo Nation near Montezuma Creek, Utah. — Christopher Weber, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026 By July, morale among immigration officers had dipped below its nadir during the Biden Administration, with agents now complaining of being overextended, inundated with novice recruits, and undermined by inflammatory rhetoric from on high. — Francisco Cantú, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026 Baseball fans who watched the World Series over the last week were inundated with ads for prediction markets like Polymarket, Novig and Kalshi. — David K. Li, NBC news, 29 Oct. 2026 The Pacific Coast Highway was inundated, and people in the area said water was coming up through the storm drains. — Sarah Lynch Baldwin, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for inundate

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Latin inundatus, past participle of inundare, from in- + unda wave — more at water

Noun

Middle English inundacion, from Latin inundation-, inundatio, from inundatus (past participle of inundare) + -ion-, -io -ion

First Known Use

Verb

1590, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of inundate was in 1590

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Inundate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inundate. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

Kids Definition

inundated; inundating
1
: to cover with a flood : deluge entry 1
2
: overwhelm sense 2
inundated with email
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