Verklempt is an adjective that means overcome with emotion.

Our word of the day comes from the Yiddish word for ‘depressed’ or ‘grieving,’ but later came to be used in more prosaic contexts, like in reference to a person who is ‘choked up’ in the moment.

It was difficult for Detective Jones to get information from the witness because of how verklempt she was at the time. She was so choked up, the words just didn’t come.