We've all been overwhelmed with work, or seen an underwhelming movie… but it occurred to me that I've never heard anyone use the root word, whelm.
whelm (verb)
1. to submerge; engulf.
2. to overcome utterly; overwhelm: whelmed by misfortune.
If whelm is "to overcome utterly," then why is it you never hear anyone say, "I was whelmed at work today."
And wouldn't underwhelm mean something more like expected or normal, rather than the implied less-than-expected?
Best Answer
Whelm is labeled as "archaic" in NOAD, as it has fallen out of use. Left in its wake are the would-be superlative overwhelm (which, rather than actually meaning "more than whelmed", has simply taken over its parent's definition) and its opposite underwhelm.
The only contact I've had with the word has been in the hymn The Solid Rock: