overconfident
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- overconfidence noun
- overconfidently adverb
Etymology
Origin of overconfident
Explanation
If you're overconfident, you're so sure of yourself that you're pushy and obnoxious. It's important to be confident at a job interview, but if you're overconfident, you may come across as downright rude. There's a fine line between confidence and overconfidence: being confident is attractive and appropriate. When someone seems overconfident, though, they appear to be unrealistically sure of themselves, more arrogant than poised. Overconfident combines the prefix over-, "too much," and confident, from the Latin confidentem, "firmly trusting or self-confident."
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.
It comes off loud, blustery, and overconfident, as if to signal a blasé disengagement with the incredible stakes of the moment.
From Slate • Mar. 6, 2026
After an overconfident miller fibs that his daughter can spin straw into gold, a greedy king locks the poor girl in a room full of straw.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
Nathan Mburu, 24, from London, became stuck on the route in May and said if it weren't for the rescue team, he and his friends could have died due to being "overconfident" and "under-prepared".
From BBC • Dec. 26, 2025
Mike was cocky and overconfident and Jordan was just concerned with Megan’s happiness.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025
“If you weren’t, you’d be overconfident, and that’s a surefire way to lose.”
From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad
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.
