overwhelming
very great or large
TRANSLATION
overwhelming = überwältigend (woerterbuch.info) --- GOOGLE INDEX overwhelming: approximately 38,000,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
British Health Secretary John Reid has said he believes there is no OVERWHELMING public demand for a smoking ban in pubs, as claimed by some lobby groups.
(BBC News)
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I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of OVERWHELMING obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve (actor of Superman)
(BBC News)
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I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of OVERWHELMING obstacles.
- Christopher Reeve (actor of Superman)
Did you
know?
overwhelming
adjective
- very great or very large
- difficult to fight against
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
Overwhelm(ing) is from around 1330 and combines "over" and the Middle English "whelm", meaning to turn upside down. The sense of completely submerged was recorded around 1450 and may originate from the notion of a boat being washed over by a wave. The figurative sense of bringing something completely to ruin was first recorded around 1529.
Overwhelming is used to emphasise the largeness or forcefulness of something such as
a vote = The city council voted overwhelmingly to ban smoking in all public places
a response = The positive response to the smoking ban in all restaurants was overwhelming
an emotion = I felt an overwhelming desire to have a cigarette
Overwhelming is also used to describe the inability to fight against a force,
nature = The dikes gave way to the overwhelming winds of the hurricane
man = The first battalion conducted an overwhelming assault on the troops stationed on the island
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SYNONYMS
dominant, forceful, mighty, omnipotent, overpowering, potent, prevailing
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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ANTONYMS
powerless, weak
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"Despite the overwhelming risks involved, we turned the project into a success."
adjective
- very great or very large
- difficult to fight against
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Overwhelm(ing) is from around 1330 and combines "over" and the Middle English "whelm", meaning to turn upside down. The sense of completely submerged was recorded around 1450 and may originate from the notion of a boat being washed over by a wave. The figurative sense of bringing something completely to ruin was first recorded around 1529.
Overwhelming is used to emphasise the largeness or forcefulness of something such as
a vote = The city council voted overwhelmingly to ban smoking in all public places
a response = The positive response to the smoking ban in all restaurants was overwhelming
an emotion = I felt an overwhelming desire to have a cigarette
Overwhelming is also used to describe the inability to fight against a force,
nature = The dikes gave way to the overwhelming winds of the hurricane
man = The first battalion conducted an overwhelming assault on the troops stationed on the island
---
SYNONYMS
dominant, forceful, mighty, omnipotent, overpowering, potent, prevailing
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
ANTONYMS
powerless, weak
(Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus)
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"Despite the overwhelming risks involved, we turned the project into a success."
