overwhelming

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of overwhelm

comparative more overwhelming · superlative most overwhelming

1. Overpowering, staggering, or irresistibly strong.

   God is an overwhelming responsibility.

   1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull

   3 more examples

   The vote was taken at once, and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that rats were comrades.

   1943 November – 1944 February (date written; published 1945 August 17), George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Animal Farm […], London: Secker & Warburg, published May 1962, →OCLC

   It is this stretch which provides what is perhaps the most staggering scenic prospect of all; the impression made on the mind by the overwhelming height of the Eiger, towering over the train, is almost impossible to describe.

   1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 754

   “What makes a eugenicist is this overwhelming faith that everything in human nature is determined by your genes,” he says.

   2018 October 16, John Blake, “When Americans tried to breed a better race: How a genetic fitness ‘crusade’ marches on”, in CNN

2. Very great or intense.
3. Extreme.

plural overwhelmings

1. A situation of being overwhelmed.

   They have centuries of premodern experience in coping with being overwhelmed in multiple ways—not only by God, but also by other overwhelmings that have always been part of the human condition, such as disease, famine, war […]

   2013, David Ford, Theology: A Very Short Introduction, page 9