Meaning & use
inundation
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Meanings
nouncountable or uncountableformal
A flood, or the covering of land by a large amount of water.
Grammar: Countable for a single flood; uncountable for flooding in general.
Patterns
- the inundation of something
The inundation of the valley destroyed the crops.
Heavy rain caused a sudden inundation in the lower streets.
Early farmers depended on the yearly inundation of the river.
nouncountablefigurative
An overwhelming amount of things arriving at once, such as messages, visitors or work.
Grammar: Usually singular: an inundation of emails.
Patterns
- an inundation of something
The office faced an inundation of complaints after the announcement.
She struggled with an inundation of emails after her vacation.
An inundation of tourists swamped the small town.
Word forms
| plural | inundations |
|---|
Common combinations
- inundation of water
- The inundation of water covered the farmland.
- inundation of requests
- The charity faced an inundation of requests.
- annual inundation
- The annual inundation enriches the soil.
- flood inundation
- Maps show areas at risk of flood inundation.
- inundation of emails
- The inundation of emails overwhelmed the staff.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flood
- Flood is the common everyday word, whereas inundation sounds more formal or technical.
- deluge
- Deluge suggests a heavy, sudden rush of rain or things, while inundation emphasizes covering or overwhelming.
- flood of
- Flood of is more casual and can describe large amounts of things, not only water.
- avalanche
- Avalanche is a figurative word for a sudden overwhelming mass, and it is more dramatic than inundation.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: inundation or innovation? inundation or induction?
inundation vs innovation
Innovation is a new idea or method, and it only resembles inundation in its opening letters.
inundation vs induction
Induction means introducing someone into a role or reasoning from examples, and it is unrelated to flooding.
Practice
After the television appearance, the shop suffered an ___ of orders it could not fulfil.
Choose one answer.
An inundation is an overwhelming amount arriving at once. An invitation is a request to attend something, so it does not suggest too many orders.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “inundation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.