overbearing
Americanadjective
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domineering; dictatorial; haughtily or rudely arrogant.
-
of overwhelming or critical importance.
adjective
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domineering or dictatorial in manner or action
-
of particular or overriding importance or significance
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of overbearing
Explanation
Overbearing means domineering. You might find it difficult to play the piano as your overbearing instructor criticizes every key you touch. The adjective overbearing typically describes a person who is haughty and dictatorial. Someone considered to be overbearing or arrogant wouldn't be described as kind or modest, which are antonyms of overbearing. Overbearing also means “repressing or overwhelming.” Thomas Jefferson uses this definition in his decree, “If the freedom of religion, guaranteed to us by law in theory, can ever rise in practice under the overbearing inquisition of public opinion, then and only then will truth, prevail over fanaticism.”
Vocabulary lists containing overbearing
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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The Federalist Papers, No. 10 by James Madison
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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.
Even advocates of adding an arch in Washington have criticized the size of Trump’s proposed structure as overbearing.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
In most of these, we can see the mother-son dynamic, however frustrating or overbearing or dysfunctional, play out.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026
The protagonist is named Tree Tremont, a phenomenal multiracial golfer with an overbearing black father, an attractive wife, two young children and a squeaky-clean public image.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Compared to the overbearing shelter system, which broke up friends, mandated sobriety, lacked privacy, prohibited pets, and offered insufficient storage, Gil wanted to have a light touch.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
In the heat they produced—a humid, overbearing swelter—the smell of sour mildew seemed to rise from everything.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Definitions 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.
