Meanings
- uncountableThe property of being overwhelming.
The overwhelmingness of the situation caused clinical depression. There was no way to cope with either of them.
1 more example
But some of the sense of overwhelmingness that comes with modern parenting seems like it could be mitigated, not just through a once-a-year benefit or tax credit, but also through small consistent signals of support: the family discount on groceries, the convenient in-home child care option, the open play space, the flexible work space.
2024 May 4, Ross Douthat, “The Birth Dearth and the Smartphone Age”, in The New York Times
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Germanic*uber
- Old Englishofer-
- Middle Englishover-
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷelp-
- Proto-Germanic*kʷolpós
- Proto-Germanic*hwalbazder.?
- Proto-Indo-European*kʷelp-
- Proto-Germanic*kʷólpo-
- Proto-Germanic*hwalbąder.?
- Old Englishhwealf
- Old English*hwealfnian
- Old English*hwealmnian?
- Middle Englishwhelmen
- Middle Englishoverwhelmen
- Englishoverwhelm
- Englishoverwhelming
- Englishoverwhelmingness
From overwhelming + -ness.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Überwältigung
- Überwältigungoverwhelmingness
Cite this entry
overwhelmingness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overwhelmingness
“overwhelmingness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overwhelmingness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overwhelmingness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overwhelmingness.
Source: overwhelmingness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.