Meanings
- uncountableThe inability to process everything one hears and sees; the availability or supply of an excess of information, or a state of stress which results.
Some news executives attribute this youthful apathy to information overload and the explosion of media options.
1990 March 9, Richard Zoglin, “The Tuned-out Generation”, in Time2 more examples
One of the men who has pioneered in information studies, Dr. James G. Miller, director of the Mental Health Research Institute at the University of Michigan, states flatly that “Glutting a person with more information than he can process may . . . lead to disturbance.” He suggests, in fact, that information overload may be related to various forms of mental illness.
1970, Alvin Toffler, Future Shock, New York: Random House, →ISBN, page 314But it's often hard to discern the forest for the archaeological trees, partly because archaeology is now so specialized, and also because all of us suffer from information overload about the past dumped on us by the Web, newspapers, TV specials, and all the apparatus of modern global communications.
2006, Brian Fagan, “The Next 50 Years”, in Archaeology, vol. 59:5Synonyms: infobesity, infoglut, infoxication
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe inability to process everything one hears and sees; the availability or supply of an excess of information, or a state of stress which results.
Origin
Popularized by Alvin Toffler in Future Shock (1970).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Esperanto informa superŝarĝo
- informa superŝarĝotoo much information
Finnish informaatioähky
- informaatioähkytoo much information
French surcharge informationnelle, surinformation
- surcharge informationnelletoo much information
- surinformationtoo much information
German Informationsüberflutung
- Informationsüberflutungtoo much information
Hungarian információs túlterhelés/túlterheltség
- információs túlterhelés/túlterheltségtoo much information
Japanese 情報オーバーロード
- 情報オーバーロード (jōhō ōbārōdo)too much information
Polish przeciążenie informacyjne
- przeciążenie informacyjnetoo much information
Russian информацио́нная перегру́зка
- информацио́нная перегру́зка (informaciónnaja peregrúzka)too much information
Spanish sobrecarga informativa, infoxicación
- sobrecarga informativatoo much information
- infoxicacióntoo much information
Swedish informaatioähky
- informaatioähkytoo much information
Ukrainian інформаці́йне переванта́ження
- інформаці́йне переванта́ження (informacíjne perevantážennja)too much information
Cite this entry
information overload. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/information%20overload
“information overload.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/information%20overload. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “information overload,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/information%20overload.
Source: information overload on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.