All words

deluge

Meaning

An overwhelming and sudden influx of a large quantity of a liquid, often causing widespread inundation.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

The storm hit fast. Rain poured down in a great deluge, quickly flooding the streets and rushing into homes. People scrambled to higher ground, their belongings swept away by the sudden, overwhelming flood of water.

The sky broke open with a sudden deluge. Rain pounded the tiny settlement built on stilts, water rising faster than anyone expected. The few boats they had were swept away in the overwhelming rush, leaving them stranded.

The pipes burst, a sudden deluge flooding the underground mushroom farm. Water cascaded down the growing racks, drowning the delicate bioluminescent fungi. Panic set in as the precious crop, hours from harvest, disappeared beneath the overwhelming rush.

The sky opened up with a deluge! Giant raindrops, bigger than my head, started plunking down. Soon, our street was like a swimming pool, and my rubber ducky, Bartholomew, was finally on his grand adventure.

The tiny squirrel, Bartholomew, had hoarded so many acorns that his burrow overflowed. A sudden, unexpected deluge of nuts cascaded down the hill, burying a confused badger and his prize-winning turnip patch in a nutty, chaotic avalanche.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

The sky split open, unleashing a sudden deluge. Water cascaded down, swallowing the streets and rising rapidly. Neighbors scrambled, a desperate flood of people fleeing the overwhelming, liquid surge that threatened to pull everything under.

The old irrigation canal, usually a trickle, suddenly surged. A deluge of muddy water poured over the banks, swallowing the carefully tended rows of bioluminescent fungi. Panic bloomed as the precious crop, cultivated for lunar-cycle festivals, was submerged.

The unexpected torrential downpour, a true deluge, overwhelmed the arid landscape. Suddenly, the dry riverbed became a raging torrent, sweeping away loose debris and forcing the desert nomads to scramble for higher ground, their meager possessions vanishing in the watery onslaught.

My goldfish, Bartholomew, seemed to enjoy the recent deluge. He went from a cramped bowl to what felt like a water park, splashing around in the bathtub I'd accidentally left running. He even attempted a swan dive, which didn't end well.

The competitive synchronized swimming team faced a real challenge when the hotel's ancient plumbing, after years of neglect, decided to unleash a sudden, overwhelming deluge of lukewarm, questionable water. They were already mid-routine, a dazzling display of human-shaped pretzels, when the pool began to behave less like a tranquil oasis and more like a leaky bathtub overflowed by a clumsy titan.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

The storm arrived without warning, a sudden deluge of rain pounding against the windows. Water rose rapidly in the streets, a terrifying flood swallowing cars and forcing families to flee their homes. The sheer volume of water was overwhelming.

The dam failed, and a deluge ripped through the valley. Homes vanished in the sudden, massive surge of water. Residents scrambled for higher ground as the churning torrent overwhelmed everything in its path, a terrifying demonstration of nature's power.

The levee finally broke, and a deluge of water, thick with mud and debris from the mountain, surged into the valley. Houses were ripped from their foundations. People scrambled for higher ground, their screams swallowed by the roaring current.

After the antique bathtub overflowed, a veritable deluge cascaded from the ceiling, transforming the living room into a makeshift aquatic park. My prize-winning poodle, a creature of delicate sensibilities, found himself adrift on a sofa cushion, paddling with the bewildered intensity of a seasoned mariner facing a tidal wave of epic proportions.

Our annual cheese-rolling festival was in full swing when a rogue dairy truck, overloaded with artisanal cheddar, experienced a catastrophic axle failure. The ensuing deluge of molten cheese engulfed the hillside, transforming our gentle competition into a slippery, Gouda-fueled landslide that remarkably improved everyone's mood, if not their trousers.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

The torrential downpour transformed the parched earth into a muddy torrent. A sudden deluge overwhelmed the flimsy defenses, water surging into homes, a frightening inundation that left residents scrambling for safety as the relentless influx consumed everything.

The old lighthouse keeper, his face a roadmap of weathered experience, watched in stunned silence. Hours of relentless tempest had culminated in a terrifying deluge, the ocean's fury surging over the stone ramparts. This overwhelming and sudden influx of a large quantity of liquid threatened to engulf everything.

The reservoir's ancient dam, weakened by decades of subterranean seismic activity, finally ruptured. A torrential deluge surged downstream, engulfing the subterranean archives of forgotten alchemical texts. The ancient scrolls, once dry and brittle, were instantly saturated, their potent formulas dissolving into oblivion.

Our attic, a veritable repository of forgotten ephemera, suffered an unheralded deluge when a burst pipe initiated an overwhelming and sudden influx of a large quantity of liquid, threatening widespread inundation of our cherished, yet remarkably dusty, heirlooms.

The beleaguered beekeeper, Bartholomew, experienced an unprecedented, catastrophic deluge as his prize-winning honey-producing apiary erupted in a torrent of liquefied amber. This vernal aberration, a veritable deluge of saccharine viscosity, transmuted his meticulously manicured lawn into a diaphanous, sticky morass, much to the consternation of his recalcitrant garden gnomes.

Difficulty

Normal — Everyday words worth reinforcing.

Appears in

Play word games with deluge Take the 2 minute vocabulary size test