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

An emotionally overwhelmed guy trying to be there for his sort-of stepson after the kid’s girlfriend was killed. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026

Cars kept coming, people were picking up supplies for themselves, for their neighbors, and for entire neighborhoods that did not have access to vehicles or were overwhelmed with the cleanup. —Chantell Murphy, Outside, 24 Mar. 2026

Suri said ports of entries were overwhelmed with asylum seekers, including not always having enough food or shelter to house them. —Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 24 Mar. 2026

The Starbucks menu was large, and patrons’ ability to customize their orders overwhelmed baristas and slowed down order fulfillment. —Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 23 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1