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

Salespeople are consistently overwhelmed by the number of tools, content and conflicting data at their disposal. —Toby Carrington, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

Employees are overwhelmed by AI training A new LinkedIn survey found that more than half of professionals think AI training at work feels like a second job. —Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 29 Aug. 2025

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was overwhelmed and couldn't rush food and water to the Gulf Coast. —Debbie Elliott, NPR, 29 Aug. 2025

One worker became overwhelmed by the H2S gas, while another employee was also overexposed while attempting a rescue, OSHA found in its investigation. —Sam Tabachnik, Denver Post, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1