swamped 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in knee-deep

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2
as in flooded

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Dissimilar Words

swamped

2 of 2

verb

past tense of swamp
1
as in engulfed
to cover with a flood the boat was swamped by the huge wave has been swamped with paperwork since she returned from vacation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in overwhelmed
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress parents feeling swamped by work and family obligations

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 swamped
Verb
Photos show extensive flooding in some parts of Southern California amid record-breaking high tides that have swamped homes and highways. — Sarah Lynch Baldwin, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026 The crisis capped a week of severe weather in which rain swamped dozens of homes in Utah and tornadoes blew off roofs, knocked trees onto houses and downed power lines in Arizona. — Mead Gruver, Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026 In June 2023, floodwaters swamped the city after the Kakhovka Dam collapsed in an explosion that an Associated Press investigation found was likely caused by the Russian military. — ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026 The movie shot in a remote Norwegian village of 25 people who were swamped by cast and crew. — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026 The addition of several inches of rain took this flood from something that might have swamped a parking lot to a genuine disaster for the residents of Lincoln Bay. — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 6 Oct. 2026 The governor, who is up for reelection in November, said speculative proposals to build data centers had swamped Pennsylvania. — Salena Zito, Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2026 Ackerman tended to focus on collegial, NCAA and legal issues, prominent during most of her time, as college athletics was swamped with seismic change in recent years. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 1 Oct. 2026 Entire neighborhoods were inundated and the drainage network swamped after over 12 inches of rain fell during two or three days last week, or nearly as much as the sprawling low-lying city usually gets in all of September. — Reuters, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swamped
  1. knee-deep
  2. flooded
  3. engulfed
  4. overwhelmed
  5. occupied
  6. submerged
  7. devastated
  8. busy
Adjective
  • Photos taken by her field partner, Sonya Maple, a co-author on the paper, show Karapetrova knee-deep in fresh snow, ringed by peaks, the only signs of people the two women’s ski tracks and footprints.
    — Susanne Rust, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • A couple of blocks away, Luis Chavez Espinosa stood knee-deep in water in the middle of the road, phone in hand, showing the flooding to his social media followers during a livestream.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of knee-deep
Adjective
  • One gas station off Powerline Road became so flooded that customers could not access the pumps.
    — Anna McAllister, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026
  • If you are headed to the coast, watch out for flooded roads, especially in low-lying areas.
    — Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of flooded
Verb
  • Police released a 911 call reporting a video that appears to show two panicked men engulfed in flames in an alleged hazing incident at an Ohio State University fraternity over the weekend.
    — News Editor, CBS News, 10 Nov. 2026
  • The company was born from the clean tech trade wars that have engulfed the US, Europe, and China in recent years.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of engulfed
Verb
  • Peru, a nation of 34 million people, is overwhelmed by challenges, among them the looming arrival of nature’s chaotic climatic agent of El Niño, violent crime and income inequality.
    — Luis Andres Henao, Chicago Tribune, 11 Nov. 2026
  • The providers who have stayed have been overwhelmed by vets’ needs — a dynamic that employees say is playing out in VA hospitals across the country.
    — Eric Umansky, ProPublica, 11 Nov. 2026
Definition of overwhelmed
Adjective
  • This year the olive harvest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank was marred by frequent attacks by Israeli settlers trying to disrupt this economically and culturally significant time of year.
    — Ruth Sherlock, NPR, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The Israeli army Monday withdrew from areas of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, officials said, following a military operation that displaced thousands of Palestinians.
    — Suheir Hashimeh, Washington Post, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of occupied
Adjective
  • The following day, Hoffman shot an underwater scene that required him to stay submerged in a scuba suit.
    — Payton Turkeltaub, Variety, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Its submerged displacement rises to about 24,000 metric tons.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of submerged
Verb
  • She was devastated, knowing the business is the family's primary source of income and helps support their four children.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 9 Nov. 2026
  • The post-World War II geopolitical landscape is reconstructing itself faster than the Ginza district, which was devastated in the last film and continues to look like a battlefield.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of devastated
Adjective
  • As if that weren’t enough to keep you busy, know that excellent vino isn’t the only reason to dedicate your big vacation to Chile this year.
    — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 Nov. 2026
  • The technology is rapidly transforming the way people work, in part by eliminating some of the busy work and tedium of manual workflows, freeing up time for employees to focus on more complex issues.
    — S. Sorrina Beecher, Chicago Tribune, 13 Nov. 2026
Definition of busy

Browse Nearby Words

swamp
swamped
swamper
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Cite this Entry

“Swamped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swamped. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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