Meaning & use
overwhelmingly
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
By a very large amount or margin, so that the other possibilities hardly matter.
Grammar: Modifies adjectives, verbs or phrases: overwhelmingly positive, voted overwhelmingly.
Patterns
- overwhelmingly + adjective
- vote overwhelmingly for something
- overwhelmingly in favor of something
Voters overwhelmingly rejected the proposal.
The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.
The class is overwhelmingly female this year.
adverbnot comparable
In a way that produces such strong emotion or force that it is hard to cope with.
Grammar: Often modifies an adjective of feeling: overwhelmingly sad.
Patterns
- overwhelmingly + feeling adjective
The smell of baking bread was overwhelmingly nostalgic.
She felt overwhelmingly grateful for their help.
Common combinations
- overwhelmingly positive
- Feedback from customers was overwhelmingly positive.
- vote overwhelmingly
- Members voted overwhelmingly to approve the budget.
- overwhelmingly in favor
- The town was overwhelmingly in favor of the park.
- overwhelmingly male/female
- The workforce is overwhelmingly female.
- overwhelmingly clear
- The evidence is overwhelmingly clear.
Synonyms and how they differ
- predominantly
- Predominantly means mainly or for the most part, and implies a smaller majority than overwhelmingly.
- decisively
- Decisively stresses a clear result of a contest or choice, while overwhelmingly stresses the size of the majority.
- massively
- Massively is more informal and works for size or amount in general, not only for majorities.
- mostly
- Mostly is weaker and simply means more than half.
Opposites
Word family
- overwhelm verb
- to defeat or affect with great force
- overwhelming adjective
- very great in amount or effect
- overwhelmed adjective
- unable to cope because of too much
Commonly confused: overwhelmingly or overwhelming?
overwhelmingly vs overwhelming
Overwhelming is the adjective (an overwhelming majority); overwhelmingly is the adverb (overwhelmingly popular).
Practice
Ninety-five percent of staff supported the change, so the vote was ____ in favor.
Choose one answer.
Overwhelmingly fits a huge majority. Narrowly means by a tiny margin, the opposite of 95 percent support.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “overwhelmingly”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.