OVERWHELMING


Meaning of OVERWHELMING in English

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

If something is ~, it affects you very strongly, and you do not know how to deal with it.

The task won’t feel so ~ if you break it down into small, easy-to-accomplish steps...

She felt an ~ desire to have another child.

= overpowering

ADJ

~ly

...the ~ly strange medieval city of Fes.

ADV: ADV adj

2.

You can use ~ to emphasize that an amount or quantity is much greater than other amounts or quantities.

The ~ majority of small businesses go broke within the first twenty-four months...

The vote was ~–283 in favour, and only twenty-nine against.

ADJ: usu ADJ n emphasis

~ly

The House of Commons has ~ly rejected calls to bring back the death penalty for murder...

ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .