swamped 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in knee-deep

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2
as in flooded

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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

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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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Paxton attendees were shocked at the blue tsunami that engulfed the country.
    — Ramsey Touchberry, The Washington Examiner, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Thick black smoke engulfed the crash site and little remained of the plane.
    — DAVID FISCHER, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of engulfed
Verb
  • The awkward silence overwhelmed everyone until the major stepped in front of Helen.
    — Ron Farina, Hartford Courant, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Their campaigns emerged in the aftermath of Covid-19, when doctors and health officials were celebrated at first, overwhelmed by work and tragedy for years, and in some cases, targeted because of distrust or politics around their messages.
    — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 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
  • 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
  • The elder Begay, speaking in Navajo, said she is emotionally devastated.
    — Adam Burke, NPR, 4 Nov. 2026
  • By comparison, the prewar sanctions that devastated Iran’s economy, hobbled its military, and discouraged it from seeking nuclear weapons were a bargain.
    — S. C. M. Paine, Foreign Affairs, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of devastated
Adjective
  • Depending on how they're layered, vests can transform a busy outfit into a clean one, or a bland outfit into something with more personality.
    — Michel Mejía, Glamour, 5 Nov. 2026
  • As busy as the multi-hyphenate keeps herself, Martina’s family has always come first.
    — Georgia Slater, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of busy

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Swamped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swamped. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

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