Yahoo Web Search

Search results

      • The answer, Chastity, is yes. Contemporary writers sometimes use whelm to denote a middle stage between underwhelm and overwhelm. But that's not how whelm has traditionally been used. Whelm and overwhelm have been with us since Middle English (when they were whelmen and overwhelmen), and throughout the years their meanings have largely overlapped.
      www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › whelm
  1. Whelm is labeled as "archaic" in NOAD, as it has fallen out of use. Left in its wake are the would-be superlative overwhelm (which, rather than actually meaning "more than whelmed", has simply taken over its parent's definition) and its opposite underwhelm .

  2. People also ask

  3. Nov 5, 2014 · In contemporary English, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.), the word “whelm” means to submerge or overwhelm. Oxford Dictionaries online offers this example of “whelm” used in the sense of submerge: “a swimmer whelmed in a raging storm.”.

  4. Oct 4, 2022 · Once you know that whelm means “engulf,” it’s hard to look past the fact that overwhelm basically means “to double drown” or “to inundate and then inundate again.” Overwhelm is an example of pleonasm — a tautological phrase that includes two words that mean the same thing.

    • admin@yourdictionary.com
    • Senior Writer
  5. Whelm is a derived term of overwhelm. As verbs the difference between overwhelm and whelm is that overwhelm is to engulf, surge over and submerge while whelm is to cover; to submerge; to engulf; to bury.

  6. The meaning of WHELM is to turn (something, such as a dish or vessel) upside down usually to cover something : cover or engulf completely with usually disastrous effect. How to use whelm in a sentence.

  7. whelm verb (AFFECT) [ T ] humorous. to have an effect on someone, usually not a very positive or very negative one: His latest album whelms rather than overwhelms. I was only whelmed by the movie, I have to say. Compare.

  8. overwhelm somebody to have such a strong emotional effect on somebody that it is difficult for them to resist or know how to react synonym overcome. She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. The beauty of the landscape overwhelmed me.

  1. People also search for