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welter of emotions

welter of emotions

7.8
A confusing mix of strong feelings
  • noun
translation icon : torbellino de emociones
  • As he watched the final scene of the movie, a welter of emotions filled him, making him both happy and sad.

Examples

  • Pota and Braddon watched their daughter with frozen faces, faces that Tia was convinced covered a complete welter of emotions that they didn't want her to see.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • After hearing the news, she was overwhelmed by a welter of emotions that made it hard to think clearly.

  • The wedding ceremony brought a welter of emotions as family and friends celebrated love and unity.

Synonyms

welter
vswelter of emotions
4 9.1

A large confusing mass of things and feelings

is the phrase used just for feelings rather than for anything else
flood of emotion
vswelter of emotions
1 3.6

A sudden strong feeling that is hard to control

is a confused, disorderly mass rather than a sudden surge
engulfment
vswelter of emotions
1 8.2

A state of being completely overwhelmed by strong feelings or stress

focuses on a disordered mass rather than total consuming experience
maelstrom of emotions
vswelter of emotions
9.1

A strong, confusing mix of very different feelings inside a person

is a confused, disorderly mass rather than violent, turbulent motion
tidal wave of emotions
vswelter of emotions
6.0

A sudden very strong feeling that you cannot control

is a confused mass rather than a brief sudden surge
flurry of emotions
vswelter of emotions
5.0

A sudden short time when many strong feelings happen at once

describes a confused, disorderly mass rather than a short burst

Antonyms

1.0

The arrangement of things in a neat sequence

152 3.0

How easy it is to understand what someone says or writes

How Confused

chaos
438 3.1
welter of emotions
7.8
turmoil
138 4.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

welter + of + emotion

The meaning 'a confused or disorderly mass of feelings' is directly derivable from combining 'welter' (a jumble or confused mass) with 'of emotions' — a standard 'X of Y' nominal composition that signals a mass/collection of Y. Although 'welter' is relatively low-frequency, the semantic relation is compositional and predictable for a learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Welter of emotions uses the word welter, which pictures a messy, rolling mass, and emotions, our feelings. Imagine feelings like waves all mixed up and pushing each other, so it means 'a confused or mixed set of feelings'.