overpower
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overpowers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overpowered,
past participle, past
-
overpowering
present participle
-
to overcome, master, or subdue by superior force.
to overpower a maniac.
-
to overcome or overwhelm in feeling; affect or impress excessively.
overpowered with confusion and desire.
-
to gain mastery over the bodily powers or mental faculties of.
a strong drink that quickly overpowered him.
-
to furnish or equip with excessive power.
a giant motor that overpowered the pump.
verb
-
to conquer or subdue by superior force
-
to have such a strong effect on as to make helpless or ineffective
-
to supply with more power than necessary
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overpowersimple
-
overpowerssimple
-
have overpoweredperfect
-
has overpoweredperfect
-
am overpoweringprogressive
-
are overpoweringprogressive
-
is overpoweringprogressive
-
have been overpoweringperfect progressive
-
has been overpoweringperfect progressive
Past
-
overpoweredsimple
-
had overpoweredperfect
-
was overpoweringprogressive
-
were overpoweringprogressive
-
had been overpoweringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overpower
Explanation
To overpower is to overcome with greater strength. In order to win an arm-wrestling match, you must overpower your opponent. The word overpower is often used in situations where great force is used or required against some person or thing. One army might overpower another, or a mugger might overpower his victim. But delicate things, like the scent of a perfume, can also overpower you, especially if they're too strong. Our emotions can also overpower us: we cheer after a home run and swoon when it's love at first sight.
Vocabulary lists containing overpower
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Words for Cheese Writers
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Rachel the Clever"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Its hunting behavior could have resembled that of modern anacondas and large pythons, which can overpower prey through constriction.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
In a Fox News interview, Netanyahu also praised an Israeli passenger who helped overpower the attacker, identifying him only as Yanik and describing him as a plumber.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Conductor Kelly Kuo captured the opera’s pacing but sometimes let the orchestra overpower the singers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
Andreeva did not let that overwhelm her, eventually finding her rhythm and range from the baseline to overpower her increasingly frustrated opponent.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
The remembrance seemed for a while to overpower her, and she drooped and would have sunk down but for her husband’s sustaining arm.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
It has spread extensively across the north-west Highlands where it often overpowers native species.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
This superhuman strength reminds me of the moment Miss Pross, an average woman at best, overpowers the vicious and bitter Madame Defarge in Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.”
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2025
He has four pitches, but his mid-90s fastball overpowers high school hitters.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 2, 2024
“You’ve got to have something so significant that overpowers money,” George Trice said.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
For a while, the turkey overpowers him, but the smell of that dog can get to anything.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Passengers and crew overpowered the attacker and retook control of the Flydubai aircraft, landing it safely at an airport in Tabuk, northwestern Saudi Arabia, with more than 170 people on board.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
But the world number 14 overpowered his loftier opponent with a barrage of 180s, hitting 11 maximums, compared to Welshman Price's five, to finish a deserved winner.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
There have been “years where I feel completely overpowered to the point where I’m not motivated to take part,” said Murillo, who didn’t vote in 2024 but plans to do so in November.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
But market jitters over sky-high AI spending without a path to good returns overpowered the company’s better-than-forecast financial performance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
I rushed up and down the stairs, trying every door and peering out of every window I could find; but after a little the conviction of my helplessness overpowered all other feelings.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
“Record output and the storage overhang are simply overpowering whatever residual weather-driven power burn is still left in the late-summer schedule,” Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
It’s both salty and sweet, without feeling overpowering on either end of the flavor scale.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026
At points during the third and fourth sets, he was hitting the ball 40mph faster than Djokovic on his groundstrokes, with his brutal striking overpowering the Serb at the back of court.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
But, six months after sustaining a calf tear during that final, Kerr demonstrated his return to full fitness by overpowering world-class opposition as the complete line-up of Olympic 1500m medallists went head to head.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2026
It’s a little overpowering as they lean over me to kiss my head.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
