swamped 1 of 2

adjective

1
as in knee-deep

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2
as in flooded

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Dissimilar Words

swamped

2 of 2

verb

past tense of swamp
1
as in engulfed
to cover with a flood the boat was swamped by the huge wave has been swamped with paperwork since she returned from vacation

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in overwhelmed
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress parents feeling swamped by work and family obligations

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of swamped
Verb
Ackerman tended to focus on collegial, NCAA and legal issues, prominent during most of her time, as college athletics was swamped with seismic change in recent years. — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 1 Oct. 2026 Ossoff has swamped the successful trucking company executive in fundraising. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026 Entire neighborhoods were inundated and the drainage network swamped after over 12 inches of rain fell during two or three days last week, or nearly as much as the sprawling low-lying city usually gets in all of September. — Reuters, NBC news, 28 Sep. 2026 Tidal surges swamped low-lying neighborhoods in New Jersey while wind gusts toppled trees on New York’s Long Island, damaging homes and bringing down utility poles. — Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2026 Detectors are becoming so large and so sensitive that they will soon be swamped with other ghostly particles called neutrinos that are generated in the sun and in Earth’s atmosphere. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2026 Prosecutors said Hernandez piloted the boat into a swell and had accelerated the throttle to try to pass through it until the swell swamped the bow of the boat, capsizing it immediately, a complaint alleged. — Martin Goillandeau, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026 Baxter swamped Elizabeth Accomando, 59% to 41%, in the Republican primary for this westernmost seat on the seven-member commission, despite a string of missteps that would disqualify most other candidates. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026 Families scrambled to emergency shelters as their homes were swamped with flood waters. — Marissa Meador, IndyStar, 16 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for swamped
  1. knee-deep
  2. flooded
  3. engulfed
  4. overwhelmed
  5. occupied
  6. submerged
  7. devastated
  8. busy
Adjective
  • Water was about knee-deep Monday near a train station and shopping mall in Bang Kapi.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The Russian bombs hit a pipe and the area was flooded in knee-deep water.
    — Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of knee-deep
Adjective
  • What drivers may not know is that saving a few extra minutes going through a flooded roadway — or leaving your car parked in the water — could cost thousands later on.
    — Amaia Gavica, Miami Herald, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Some people were even spotted kayaking down a flooded street.
    — Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of flooded
Verb
  • The collision on the narrow two-lane highway ignited a fire that engulfed the 17-passenger mid-sized commercial shuttle bus, which had a 50-year-old driver and five passengers onboard, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
  • At that point, the film pivots to a more surreal register, presenting bright, clear skies that are slowly, eerily engulfed in darkness.
    — Lé Baltar, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of engulfed
Verb
  • To avoid the pitfalls of apps like Tinder and Hinge—where women are vastly outnumbered by men and are therefore overwhelmed by choice while men receive very few matches—FirstDate uses a Nobel Prize-winning matching theory algorithm.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The Gophers' defense overwhelmed Michigan's offense and quarterback Bryce Underwood Saturday.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of overwhelmed
Adjective
  • For occupied units, think about sticking to in-unit repairs that can be completed in a day or two.
    — Alex Vasquez, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Israeli settlers have intensified efforts to seize natural springs and heritage sites in the occupied West Bank.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of occupied
Adjective
  • Advanced blue-green optical communications penetrate the water column to communicate with submerged submarines without requiring them to deploy compromise-prone antennas.
    — Rohit Jha, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Rescue teams recovered four bodies from inside the submerged vessel on Friday, while seven more were found along nearby shorelines, Bramantyo said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of submerged
Verb
  • Healthcare workers who’d turned up for the event described patients choosing between affording medication or food, or how they themselves had been financially devastated by a medical crisis.
    — Kate Wells, Miami Herald, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Ji-hye’s punishment Ji-hye is devastated at the arrest of her son, and furiously tries to confess to the crime herself.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of devastated
Adjective
  • Erik Neander’s Oura Ring, a device that monitors heart rate and stress among other functions, had been busy in the days leading up to and during the American League Division Series against the Yankees.
    — Marc Topkin, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Even on busy weekends, the staff are perfectly primed to welcome guests with Southern charm and efficiency.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of busy

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Cite this Entry

“Swamped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/swamped. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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