Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb overwhelm

4 senses of overwhelm

Sense 1
overwhelm, overpower, sweep over, whelm, overcome, overtake -- (overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli)
       => arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, fire, raise, provoke -- (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy")

Sense 2
overwhelm, deluge, flood out -- (charge someone with too many tasks)
       => charge, saddle, burden -- (impose a task upon, assign a responsibility to; "He charged her with cleaning up all the files over the weekend")

Sense 3
submerge, drown, overwhelm -- (cover completely or make imperceptible; "I was drowned in work"; "The noise drowned out her speech")
       => cover, spread over -- (form a cover over; "The grass covered the grave")

Sense 4
overpower, overmaster, overwhelm -- (overcome by superior force)
       => beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish -- (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game")

Antonyms of adj overwhelming

2 senses of overwhelming

Sense 1
overpowering, overwhelming -- (so strong as to be irresistible; "an overpowering need for solitude"; "the temptation to despair may become overwhelming"; "an overwhelming majority")

INDIRECT (VIA irresistible) -> resistible -- (capable of being resisted or withstood or frustrated; "a resistible attack"; "such resistible temptations")

Sense 2
consuming, overwhelming -- (very intense; "politics is his consuming passion"; "overwhelming joy")

INDIRECT (VIA intense) -> mild -- (moderate in type or degree or effect or force; far from extreme; "a mild winter storm"; "a mild fever"; "fortunately the pain was mild"; "a mild rebuke"; "mild criticism")

Similarity of adj overwhelming

2 senses of overwhelming

Sense 1
overpowering, overwhelming -- (so strong as to be irresistible; "an overpowering need for solitude"; "the temptation to despair may become overwhelming"; "an overwhelming majority")
       => irresistible (vs. resistible), resistless -- (impossible to resist; overpowering; "irresistible (or resistless) impulses"; "what happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object?")

Sense 2
consuming, overwhelming -- (very intense; "politics is his consuming passion"; "overwhelming joy")
       => intense (vs. mild) -- (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")