overachiever

American  

[oh-ver-uh-chee-ver] / ˌoʊ vər əˈtʃi vər /

Also over-achiever

noun

1. a person who performs better or achieves more than people are generally expected to, often because of high ambition, pressure from family, etc..

   Ever the overachiever, he reached his sales goal for the year a whopping five months early.

2. a person who performs, especially academically, above the potential indicated by tests of their mental ability or aptitude.

   We found many overachievers with modest SAT scores who nevertheless achieved high GPAs across a variety of majors.

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Etymology

Origin of overachiever

First recorded in 1935–40; over- ( def. ) + achieve ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

Syndicated episodes of “Martha Stewart Living” upheld the attainability of elegance and the value of precise execution, appealing to my inner overachiever.

From Salon • Jan. 30, 2026

If the bare minimum is enough for you to be seen and recognized for solid work, there might be no need to become an office overachiever.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

If you’re an overachiever who’s already listened to every single playlist?

From New York Times • Oct. 3, 2023

Meet Eric Eames, a high-elevation overachiever in the Northwest climbing community.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2023

To stay in shape, but also for the nature-connectedness-science-y beauty all around outside and for the overachiever challenge of distance.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti