whelming

verb

present participle of whelm
as in overwhelming
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress the news so whelmed them that they were stunned into silence

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for whelming
  1. overwhelming
  2. devastating
  3. overcoming
Verb
  • The Arlington Heights Yellow Jackets (8-0, 4-0 District 4 5A-1) continued their dominant season Thursday night, overwhelming the Trimble Tech Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2 District 4 5A-1) 72-0 to remain undefeated.
    — Aliza Acuna, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Western and workwear references ran through the lineup without overwhelming its sporty foundation.
    — Footwear News, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of overwhelming
Verb
  • The earthquake comes less than two months after a border region of Nepal and Tibet was struck by devastating flash flooding that left hundreds of people dead and destroyed several communities.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have been fighting since April 2023, devastating large parts of the country and threatening stability along its borders.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of devastating
Verb
  • His early story is known as one of overcoming difficult circumstances and finding a creative outlet in music.
    — Kaitlyn Gomez, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The song addresses overcoming adversity and using others’ doubts to fuel your passion.
    — Melinda Newman, Billboard, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of overcoming
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

whelmed
whelming
whelms
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Whelming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/whelming. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All