overkill
Americannoun
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the capacity of a nation to destroy, by nuclear weapons, more of an enemy than would be necessary for a military victory.
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an instance of such destruction.
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an excess of what is required or suitable, as because of zeal or misjudgment.
noun
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the capability to deploy more weapons, esp nuclear weapons, than is necessary to ensure military advantage
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any capacity or treatment that is greater than that required or appropriate
Etymology
Origin of overkill
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.
This may be overkill, but if you have millions of dollars, a “dynasty trust” allows you to control assets over multiple generations.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 23, 2026
Expensive GPU-filled servers were overkill, and data-center customers mostly bought CPU servers to run websites, databases, applications, and other traditional workloads.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
It feels a bit like overkill if you’re just a little sleepy.
From Slate • Nov. 26, 2025
The comedic overkill of the insult is on purpose.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 25, 2025
But regardless of whether the overkill hypothesis or the climate hypothesis proves correct, the disappearance of all of the big animals of Australia/New Guinea had, as we shall see, heavy consequences for subsequent human history.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
