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
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 Tidal surges swamped low-lying neighborhoods in New Jersey while wind gusts toppled trees on New York’s Long Island, damaging homes and bringing down utility poles. — Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 27 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
  • In the photos, she is seen standing knee-deep in the water before wrapping a towel over her body to dry off.
    — Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Water was about knee-deep Monday near a train station and shopping mall in Bang Kapi.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of knee-deep
Adjective
  • If you are headed to the coast, watch out for flooded roads, especially in low-lying areas.
    — Sean Macaday, Sacbee.com, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Herds of cows waded across flooded pastures as ranchers guided them toward dry land.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of flooded
Verb
  • The massive fire that broke out last November engulfed seven buildings in an apartment complex in a northern suburban district, killing 168 people and displacing thousands of others.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 30 Oct. 2026
  • The building was fully engulfed when emergency crews arrived.
    — CBS Baltimore, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of engulfed
Verb
  • The president left office above water on the economy, with 48% approving and 41% disapproving — high numbers for a president whose last year was overwhelmed by the Covid pandemic.
    — Steve Liesman, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Economic recovery, the official argued, must accompany political reform to prevent a future democratic government from being overwhelmed by debt, failing infrastructure, shortages, inflation and insecurity.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of overwhelmed
Adjective
  • The scenes unfolded the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood in another part of Hebron, wearing a military-style vest, and vowed to intensify operations across the occupied West Bank.
    — Freddie Clayton, NBC news, 24 Oct. 2026
  • This comes amid a surge of violence and land seizures by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
    — Ruth Sherlock, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of occupied
Adjective
  • Its submerged displacement rises to about 24,000 metric tons.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2026
  • The discovery was made in the submerged royal harbor of Alexandria, Egypt, and announced this month by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of submerged
Verb
  • Some were devastated and expressed hope a new company could rescue the venture so life at sea can continue.
    — Sopheng Cheang, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
  • But Trump’s termination of electric-vehicle tax credits, for both consumers and manufacturers, has devastated the plant.
    — Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of devastated
Adjective
  • More than 100 people were killed and 113 others were wounded on Monday in a Sudanese military drone strike on a busy market in Nyala, the capital of the South Darfur province, said Emergency Lawyers, a rights group tracking violence.
    — YASSIR ABDALLA, Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2026
  • But the company thinks its initial bet on infrastructure inspection will keep it busy for the foreseeable future.
    — Edd Gent, IEEE Spectrum, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of busy

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Cite this Entry

“Swamped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swamped. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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