Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

inundate

/ˈɪn.ənˌdeɪt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.07 in modern English

Syllables: in-un-date
IPA: /ˈɪn.ənˌdeɪt/

9

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To cover with large amounts of water; to flood.

verb

Example Sentences

"The Dutch would sometimes inundate the land to hinder the Spanish army."
"The agency was inundated with phone calls."
"I don't know any quarter in England where you get such undeniable mutton—mutton that eats like mutton, instead of the nasty watery, stringy, turnipy stuff, neither mutton nor lamb, that other countries are inundated with."
"That books are pouring off the world’s presses at unprecedented rates is a fact often alluded to as a flood that is inundating libraries and the book trades."

Etymology

First attested in 1623; borrowed from Latin inundātus, the perfect passive participle of inundō (“to flood, overflow”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from in- + undō (“to overflow, wave”), from unda (“wave”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Origin

First known use: First attested in 1623

Word Breakdown

Root: *wed-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɪn.ənˌdeɪt/
British English: /ˈɪn.ənˌdeɪt/

Inflected Forms

inundates (present, singular) inundating (participle, present) inundated (participle, past) inundated (past)

Derived Forms

inundatable

Frequently Paired Words

inundation inundator undulate

Synonyms

swamp deluge flood beflood avalanche submerge

Questions

How do you pronounce inundate?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɪn.ənˌdeɪt/.
What does inundate mean?: To cover with large amounts of water; to flood.
Where does inundate come from?: First known use: First attested in 1623.

How to pronounce inundate

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɪn.ənˌdeɪt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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