Meaning & use
inundated
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Meanings
adjectiveafter a verbfigurative
Overwhelmed by a huge amount of something, such as work or messages.
Grammar: Usually follows be and takes with or by: we are inundated with calls.
Patterns
- inundated with something
- inundated by something
The help desk was inundated with calls after the outage.
She felt inundated by emails after the holiday.
The charity was inundated with donations.
adjectivenot comparable
Covered by flood water.
Grammar: Often describes land: inundated fields.
Patterns
- inundated by something
Several villages were inundated after the river burst its banks.
The inundated fields will take weeks to dry.
The basement was inundated by the storm.
Common combinations
- inundated with requests
- The office was inundated with requests for refunds.
- inundated with calls
- The radio station was inundated with calls.
- inundated with applications
- The college was inundated with applications this year.
- inundated by floods
- The valley was inundated by floods.
- completely inundated
- The streets were completely inundated.
Synonyms and how they differ
- swamped
- Swamped is more informal and mostly about work or tasks.
- overwhelmed
- Overwhelmed stresses being unable to cope, while inundated stresses the sheer volume arriving.
- flooded
- Flooded is plainer and works for both water and messages, but inundated sounds more formal.
- deluged
- Deluged suggests a sudden heavy flow, like rain.
Opposites
Word family
- inundate verb
- to flood or overwhelm
- inundation noun
- a flood or overwhelming amount
Commonly confused: inundated or innovated?
inundated vs innovated
Innovated means introduced new ideas, which sounds somewhat similar but has no connection.
Practice
After the product went viral, the company was ___ orders.
Choose one answer.
Inundated is followed by with (or by). The other prepositions do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inundated”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.