1
Core quality
Extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
Example
Overwhelming evidence supported the revised date.
overwhelming
/ˌəʊvəˈwelmɪŋ/ · oh-vur-WEL-mingadjective
Extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
Use overwhelming to express this relationship precisely: extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
What overwhelming Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Attributive or predicative use
Use this adjective before a suitable noun or after a linking verb such as be or seem.
Example
The proposal won an overwhelming majority.
3
Analytical distinction
Choose it when this exact descriptive quality matters; a related word may overlap without conveying the same trait.
Example
The volume of requests became overwhelming.
Use overwhelming Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
Overwhelming evidence supported the revised date.
The proposal won an overwhelming majority.
The volume of requests became overwhelming.
Precision Matters
Overwhelming overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
overwhelming
vs.Means extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
trivial
Means of little importance or consequence.
overwhelming
vs.Means extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
modest
Means limited or moderate in size, amount, ambition, or importance; also, not boastful about oneself.
overwhelming
vs.Means extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
imperceptible
Means impossible or extremely difficult to perceive.
overwhelming
vs.Means extremely intense, powerful, large, or convincing; difficult to resist or manage.
emphatic
Means expressed with force, certainty, or special emphasis; unmistakably strong.
Test overwhelming in Context
The evidence is exceptionally abundant and convincing.
1
The conclusion rests on ___ evidence from hundreds of independent measurements.