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inundation
/ˌɪnʌnˈdeɪʃən/
flooding or overwhelming amount
After the heavy rains, the town faced an inundation of water that blocked all roads.
The town experienced severe flooding that made roads impassable.
Engineering
formal
An overwhelming amount of water covering an area that is usually dry.
The dam's failure led to the inundation of several villages downstream.
The dam breaking caused flooding in multiple villages.
Often used in technical or legal contexts (e.g., flood risk assessments, insurance policies).
formal
An overwhelming abundance or large quantity of something.
The company received an inundation of complaints after the product launch.
The company was flooded with complaints after releasing the product.
Can be figurative, referring to an excessive amount of non-physical things (e.g., emails, requests).
Collocations
inundation ofa large amount offlood and inundationcombined natural disasters
Pro Tip
Avoid redundancy
Do not pair 'inundation' with 'flood' (e.g., 'flood inundation')—it is redundant. Use one or the other.
Gold Rule
Formal tone
Use 'inundation' in formal writing (e.g., reports, academic papers) or when emphasizing severity. Avoid casual contexts.
Word Origin
From Latin *inundatio(n-)*, meaning 'a flood,' derived from *inundare* ('to flood'), combining *in-* ('into') + *undare* ('to surge').
Usage Notes
Prefer 'flood' for everyday contexts; 'inundation' is more formal and often used in technical or legal writing.
Word Breakdown
in-
into
prefixund-
wave, surge
root-ation
action or result of
suffixEnglish Dictionary