Overwhelming means so strong that it fills everything. An overwhelming smell, overwhelming majority, overwhelming evidence.
Of a sensation it means too much to take in — an overwhelming smell blots out everything else. Of a quantity it means beyond any argument: an overwhelming majority, overwhelming evidence, overwhelming support. Note overwhelmed, which is usually about a person and means unable to cope; and that whelm on its own is an old verb meaning to submerge, which survives now only inside this word.
1adjectivesmellSo strong that it fills everything.
“The smell of fish in the market was overwhelming.”
2adjectivebeyondBeyond any argument, of a quantity.
“The proposal passed with overwhelming support from the members.”
overwhelming is a quality of overpowering force.
Old English
ofer-
Middle English
overwhelmen
English
overwhelm
English, today
overwhelming
From overwhelm + -ing. overwhelm comes from Middle English overwhelmen, from enm + over-, from Old English ofer-. Middle English overwhelmen, equivalent to over + whelm.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA