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

During his whirlwind debut fortnight last spring, Rinzel never seemed overwhelmed. —Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2025

Baristas—most of whom already felt overwhelmed—now have to wear a black T-shirt and pants, greet customers, scribble personalized messages on each to-go cup, and ideally hand over drinks within four minutes. —Molly Liebergall, Fortune, 12 Sep. 2025

Among the first to FaceTime the overwhelmed 16-year-old? —Jolene Almendarez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 Sep. 2025

The 2021 heat dome in the Pacific Northwest that overwhelmed emergency rooms and left hundreds dead. —Julia Simon, NPR, 11 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1