overdetermined
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of overdetermined
First recorded in 1915–20; over- + determined
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.
What it emphatically cannot mean is acceding to powerlessness in the face of a bunch of institutions that are working to make it seem as if their omnipotence is inevitable, or irrevocable, or constitutionally overdetermined.
From Slate • Jul. 21, 2025
As it stands, the characterization is thin, the motivations are overdetermined, and the Colony’s endurance demands too steep a suspense of disbelief.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2025
As for Picasso, look for his famously overdetermined meditation on the mythological underpinnings of life when it includes both wife and mistress, “La Minotauromachie,” 1935.
From New York Times • Jan. 18, 2024
Some of his actions and views strain credulity and feel overdetermined.
From Washington Post • Feb. 15, 2023
We might rest satisfied with that, yet a more complete interpretation is quite possible, in which particular images are shown to be overdetermined.
From Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts by Jelliffe, Smith Ely
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.
