agobiarse
verbCEFR B1
What does “agobiarse” mean in English?
to feel overwhelmed, to be swamped
to feel overwhelmed, to be swamped (by stress, workload, or demands); reflexive; informal register; agobiarse con + noun stressor
Example sentences
Me agobio mucho en época de exámenes y el médico me dijo que tenía que aprender a gestionar mejor el estrés antes de que afectara a mi salud.
I get very overwhelmed in exam season and the doctor told me I needed to learn to manage stress better before it started affecting my health.
Su madre estaba tan agobiada con los cuidados del bebé y el trabajo que pidió al médico que la derivara a un psicólogo.
Her mother was so overwhelmed with looking after the baby and work that she asked the doctor to refer her to a psychologist.
How to use it
Agobiarse means 'to feel overwhelmed' or 'to be swamped' — typically with stress, workload, or excessive demands. It is always reflexive (me agobio, te agobias, se agobia). It takes con when followed by the stressor: agobiarse con el trabajo, agobiarse con los problemas. Register: informal to colloquial — doctors would say el paciente experimenta una sobrecarga emocional in a clinical note, not se agobia. The adjective form estar agobiado/a is common in speech: estoy agobiado/a.
Common mistake
The reflexive pronoun cannot be dropped: *me agobio* is correct; *agobio* alone is ungrammatical in this sense. Agobiarse is informal — do not use it in formal writing or medical reports; prefer sentirse sobrepasado/a or experimentar una sobrecarga.