overwhelm

Use the word "overwhelm" when a situation becomes too difficult to manage.

• This is overwhelming.
• I feel totally overwhelmed.
• The amount of attention the young man received from the media was overwhelming. (He was happy but also surprised by the attention.)
• He was overwhelmed by media attention. (This sentence is in the passive voice.)
• It’s overwhelming the amount of email that I have to look through every morning.
• I’m overwhelmed by email.
• Donations of food to survivors of the disaster were overwhelming.
• Volunteers were overwhelmed by the donations. It was too much for them to handle.
• The woman was so overwhelmed by the kindness of her coworkers, she began to cry.

This amount of snow is overwhelming.

The word "overwhelmingly" is an adverb.

• People who live in that neighborhood are overwhelmingly poor. (A large majority of the people are poor.)
• Responses to the survey were overwhelmingly positive.
• Refugees from the war were overwhelmingly grateful for the help that they received.

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January 19, 2016