as in to overwhelm
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress the student was overmastered by the stress of taking the college placement test and broke down crying

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 overmaster Passion is an intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction. Bird Brown, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 Dec. 2019 Jesus’ Son is about the force of addiction and the only thing that can overmaster it: the ecstatic experience of God. Longreads, 17 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overmaster
Verb
  • This can overwhelm analysts and lead to alert fatigue.
    Bhupendra Singh, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • Among other things, a lack of staff hampered the State Emergency Response Team’s ability to maintain a 24-hour operation that was supposed to support local and county officials who were overwhelmed by the massive storm.
    Jennifer Berry Hawes, ProPublica, 27 June 2025
Verb
  • The Thunder overcame two Game 7s en route to the title, and they will now forever be called champions.
    Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 June 2025
  • Advertisement Indiana tried its best to overcome heartbreak in Game 7: Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers’ star point guard who was playing with a calf strain in his right leg, suffered an achilles injury in the first quarter.
    Sean Gregory, Time, 23 June 2025
Verb
  • People were aware of the risk of fires following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and a 1923 magnitude 8 earthquake and firestorm that devastated Tokyo and Yokohama, causing an astonishing 142,800 deaths, according to the USGS.
    Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2025
  • He’s been through adversity and grown stronger James’ drive to give back began during his freshman year at Tulane, when Hurricane Ida devastated New Orleans.
    Shane Connuck June 26, Charlotte Observer, 27 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Overmaster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overmaster. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.

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