different between overwhelming vs surprising

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?o?v??(h)w?lm??/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???v??w?lm??/

Verb

overwhelming

1. present participle of overwhelm

Adjective

overwhelming (comparative more overwhelming, superlative most overwhelming)

1. Overpowering, staggering, or irresistibly strong.

   • The vote was taken at once, and it was agreed by an overwhelming majority that rats were comrades.

2. Very great or intense.
3. Extreme.

Antonyms

• underwhelming

Derived terms

• overwhelmingly
• overwhelmingness

Translations

Noun

overwhelming (plural overwhelmings)

1. A situation of being overwhelmed.
   • 2013, David Ford, Theology: A Very Short Introduction (page 9)

     They have centuries of premodern experience in coping with being overwhelmed in multiple ways—not only by God, but also by other overwhelmings that have always been part of the human condition, such as disease, famine, war […]

English

Etymology

From surprise +? -ing.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /s??p?a?z??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /s??p?a?z??/
• (General American, r-dissimilation) IPA^(key): /s??p?a?z??/
• Hyphenation: sur?pris?ing
• Rhymes: -a?z??

Verb

surprising

1. present participle of surprise

Adjective

surprising (comparative more surprising, superlative most surprising)

1. Causing surprise.

Synonyms

• astonishing, unexpected

Derived terms

• surprisingly

See Thesaurus:surprising

Translations

Noun

surprising (plural surprisings)

1. A situation in which somebody is surprised.
   • 1983, David Dowling, Novelists on Novelists (page xii)

     But the comments of most of these novelists are the record of their continual surprisings by the varieties of moral and aesthetic truths.