overwhelming

o·ver·whelm·ing

(ō′vər-wĕl′mĭng, -hwĕl′-)

adj.

Overpowering in effect or strength: overwhelming joy; an overwhelming majority.

o′ver·whelm′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

overwhelming

(ˌəʊvəˈwɛlmɪŋ)

adj

overpowering in effect, number, or force

ˌoverˈwhelmingly adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

o•ver•whelm•ing

(ˌoʊ vərˈʰwɛl mɪŋ, -ˈwɛl-)

adj.

so great as to render resistance or opposition useless; overpowering.

[1565–75]

o`ver•whelm′ing•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	overwhelming - so strong as to be irresistible; "an overpowering need for solitude"; "the temptation to despair may become overwhelming"; "an overwhelming majority" overpowering irresistible, resistless - impossible to resist; overpowering; "irresistible (or resistless) impulses"; "what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?"
	2.	overwhelming - very intense; "politics is his consuming passion"; "overwhelming joy" consuming intense - possessing or displaying a distinctive feature to a heightened degree; "intense heat"; "intense anxiety"; "intense desire"; "intense emotion"; "the skunk's intense acrid odor"; "intense pain"; "enemy fire was intense"

overwhelming

adjective

1. overpowering, strong, powerful, towering, vast, stunning, extreme, crushing, devastating, shattering, compelling, irresistible, breathtaking, compulsive, forceful, unbearable, uncontrollable She felt an overwhelming desire to have another child.
overpowering trivial, commonplace, insignificant, negligible, unimportant, paltry, incidental, resistible

2. vast, huge, massive, enormous, tremendous, immense, very large, astronomic, humongous or humungous (U.S. slang) An overwhelming majority of small businesses fail within the first two years.
vast insignificant, negligible, paltry

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

overwhelming

adjective

Awesomely or forbiddingly intense:

overpowering, staggering, towering.

Translations

ساحِق، عَظيم

überwältigend

abrumador aplastante irresistible agobiante apabullante

accablant écrasant supérieur

yfirgnæfandi

schiacciante

silen

büyükezici

势不可挡的很大的

overwhelming

[ˌəʊvəˈwelmɪŋ] ADJ [defeat, victory] → arrollador, aplastante; [success] → arrollador; [majority] → abrumador, aplastante; [heat] → agobiante; [pressure, urge] → irresistible; [desire] → irresistible, imperioso; [emotion] → incontenible
one's overwhelming impression is of heat → lo que más impresiona es el calor

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

overwhelming

[ˌəʊvə^rˈ^hwɛlmɪŋ] adj

[victory, defeat] → écrasant(e); [sense, feeling] → écrasant(e); [desire] → irrésistible
an overwhelming sense of powerlessness → un sentiment écrasant d'impuissance

(= predominant)
One's overwhelming impression is of heat → La sensation qui domine tout est la chaleur.

(= very big) an overwhelming majority → une écrasante majorité
an overwhelming majority of people → l'écrasante majorité des gens
An overwhelming majority of people are opposed to this plan → L'écrasante majorité des gens est opposée à ce projet.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

overwhelming

adj → überwältigend; desire, power → unwiderstehlich; misfortune → erschütternd; overwhelming evidence → erdrückende Beweise pl; an overwhelming majority → eine überwältigende Mehrheit; they won despite overwhelming odds → sie gewannen obwohl ihre Chancen sehr schlecht standen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

overwhelming

[ˌəʊvəˈwɛlmɪŋ] adj (victory, majority) → schiacciante; (defeat) → pesante; (pressure, heat, desire, emotion) → intenso/a
one's overwhelming impression is of heat → l'impressione dominante è quella di caldo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

overwhelm

(əuvəˈwelm) verb

to defeat or overcome. He was overwhelmed with work/grief.

ˌoverˈwhelming adjective

very great. an overwhelming victory.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

There was with her an overwhelming feeling of irresponsibility.

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I did my best to stop the torrent of his tears and protestations by persisting in treating the whole adventure as a good subject for a joke; and succeeded at last, as I imagined, in lessening Pesca's overwhelming sense of obligation to me.

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Nastasia's arrival was a most unexpected and overwhelming event to all parties.

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Nobody ever comes back from a "missing" ship to tell how hard was the death of the craft, and how sudden and overwhelming the last anguish of her men.

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It was evident to us that before very long we should be attacked in overwhelming force.

My mind's eye singled out those who were sealed to slaughter, and there rushed in upon my heart a great sense of the mystery of human life, and an overwhelming sorrow at its futility and sadness.

We shall be attacked in overwhelming force, and it is quite a chance if we can hold this place."

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At this, after a second in which his head made the movement of a baffled dog's on a scent and then gave a frantic little shake for air and light, he was at me in a white rage, bewildered, glaring vainly over the place and missing wholly, though it now, to my sense, filled the room like the taste of poison, the wide, overwhelming presence.

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The diffidence, then, with which I venture to dispute their authority would be overwhelming did I not feel, from the bottom of my heart, that learning has little to do with the imagination-intellect with the passions-or age with poetry.

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Long ere the last of the column could hope to reach the upper pits which lay above the danger point I was convinced that the waters would surge after us in overwhelming volume, and that fully half the expedition would be snuffed out.

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The recollection of her suffering and of his own humiliation seemed to render more overwhelming the compassion he felt now.

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His difficulties as a child were often so overwhelming he could not see his siblings' distress.