overarching

American  

[oh-ver-ahr-ching] / ˌoʊ vərˈɑr tʃɪŋ /

adjective

1. forming an arch above.

   great trees with overarching branches.

2. encompassing or overshadowing everything.

   The community's overarching needs are more jobs and better housing.

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overarching British  

/ ˌəʊvərˈɑːtʃɪŋ /

adjective

1. overall; all-encompassing

   an overarching concept

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Etymology

Origin of overarching

First recorded in 1710–20; overarch + -ing ²

Example Sentences

“It can be a nice overarching tool that can allow you to kind of simplify your bill-paying,” Schulz said.

From MarketWatch

Despite all the progress, there’s currently no single, overarching solution.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some users openly expressed support for her online, while others voiced discontent over her exit -- revealing a rare crack in the state's overarching control.

From Barron's

The overarching mood is more sedate than scintillating; the word “bittersweet” comes up a lot.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fueling the selling is an overarching fear that Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, or even Alphabet’s Gemini will eventually develop business applications that displace the services provided by many public software companies.

From Barron's

Related Words

• overall
• throughout
• underlying