OVER-POWER Synonyms: 78 Similar and Opposite Words

overpower

verb

ˌō-vər-ˈpau̇(-ə)r

Definition of overpower

as in to subdue

to bring under one's control by force of arms the invading army overpowered the countryside with lightning speed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to overwhelm

to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress overpowered by fear of the unknown

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of overpower Docherty invites Jacob to clock him with the butt of his service revolver to help sell Docherty’s lie that Jacob overpowered him and escaped. — Chris Klimek, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2026 The resident tried to shut the door behind him, but the men overpowered him. — Kansas City Star, 8 Sep. 2026 He was overpowered on one play early in the game, and PFF rated him 20th of 28 players who suited up on offense for the Canes on Friday. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2026 Law enforcement officers in direct physical contact with jail inmates are prohibited from carrying firearms because of the risk of an inmate overpowering an officer and gaining possession of the gun. — Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 4 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for overpower

Recent Examples of Synonyms for overpower

Verb

As the President sat down to eat with the press corps, a would-be assassin stormed through a security checkpoint before being subdued by the Secret Service.

— Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
According to Tisch, Cisneros then waved her knives and began to advance on the officers, who attempted to subdue the woman with a Taser before employing lethal force.

— Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026

Definition of subdue

Verb

The architecture is striking without overwhelming its surroundings; the food celebrates the region with confidence, and the spa itself is reason enough to visit.

— Vicki Power, TheWeek, 14 Sep. 2026
People indicated they were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of news, and in some cases felt isolated.

— Brian Steinberg, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026

Definition of overwhelm

Verb

But this time, the debate is not about the widespread push for cell phone bans that have dominated recent legislative sessions and school policies.

— Erin Mote, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Room for Disagreement A challenging path to legislation won’t stop AI from dominating the political landscape.

— Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 15 Sep. 2026

Definition of dominate

Verb

To overcome this, the Delft team engineered a lightweight processing pipeline that runs onboard using a mere 34 kilobytes of memory.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
Edwards doubts that voluntary oversight will overcome the commercial incentives to release their latest, most powerful models.

— Jacek Krywko, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of overcome

Verb

Women have conquered space and awareness, helping to broaden the very concept of leadership.

— WWD Staff, Footwear News, 14 Sep. 2026
Mizzou tripped Kansas 42-31 last season in Columbia, went 4-1 against the Jayhawks uninterrupted from 2007-11 at Arrowhead Stadium and also conquered KU 42-17 in 2006 at Memorial Stadium in Columbia.

— Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of conquer

Verb

All those entities hoovered up the dollars PG&E had available to pay out victims of the Camp Fire, and other blazes including the deadly 2017 North Bay fires that devastated Santa Rosa and outlying communities.

— Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026
If passed, the measure would devastate school districts across the state by reducing services that students and families depend on.

— Erick Trevino, AZCentral.com, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of devastate

Verb

It is noted by one agent that, even though there are players Liverpool would happily have sold this summer and last, Hughes and his staff preferred to treat them respectfully rather than subject them to the ‘bomb squad’ treatment some clubs prefer.

— James Pearce, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2026
The beds can contain hundreds of blocks laid out in a grid, growing progressively deeper so an aircraft slows without subjecting the landing gear — or the people aboard — to extreme deceleration forces that can be deadly in a crash.

— Pete Muntean, CNN Money, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of subject

Verb

Lionel Messi scored the 100th goal of his Inter Miami career and Casemiro added another as Miami defeated Cruz Azul 2-0 on Wednesday night to win the Campeones Cup.

— CBS News, CBS News, 17 Sep. 2026
That victory in Week 12, was the Chiefs’ last until defeating the Broncos in Week 1 on Monday.

— Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 17 Sep. 2026

Definition of defeat

Browse Nearby Words

overpluses

overpower

overpowered

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Overpower.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overpower. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of overpower

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

aggrandize

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Popular in Wordplay

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Words from the 'Odyssey'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 18

Popular

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

Games & Quizzes