engulfed vs immersed

[Yemel]

Hi everybody,
The leading actress is engulfed in the night odors of moist India.
Could you advise me which word should I use in this sentence engulfed or immersed?
Thank you in advance.

[Lebowski]

I'm not an expert but if I were engulfed in flames I'd want to be immersed in water immediately.

I believe the two words are synonyms but are not always directly substitutable. E.g. A traveler can be immersed in a foreign culture but to say they were engulfed in a foreign culture would not sound right to me.

[Yemel]

Ok. thank you. Maybe someone else would illuminate me. Have a nice evening.

[Beeesneees]

I would say 'immersed in..." - she is totally surrounded by it.

I would also agree with Lebowski about "engulfed in"... sounding odd in this context.

Engulf - cover or flow over Immerse - enclose completely

One other thing... what are you trying to convey by using the term "moist India"?
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[Yemel]

Hi, thank you very much. Humidity I guess. Why does it sound odd also?

[Beeesneees]

It sounds odd to me, but that's possibly because it's out of context.
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[Yemel]

Thank you. Would you say humid India? There was no additional context about India's climate. It is a translation. So, I rendered it as moist.

[Beeesneees]

Humid would be better than moist when talking about the climate of a country, yes.
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[Yemel]

Thank you very much for pointing this out.

[Alan]

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Hi Yemel,

Of course 'engulfed' often has a sense of peril or danger about it and is frequently used with that other element, fire as in:

Before any of the residents in the hotel had a chance to escape, the whole building was engulfed in flames.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
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[Yemel]

Good morning Alan,
Thanks a lot.