overpower
Americanverb (used with object)
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overpowers,
present (3rd person singular)
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overpowered,
past participle, past
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overpowering
present participle
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to overcome, master, or subdue by superior force.
to overpower a maniac.
-
to overcome or overwhelm in feeling; affect or impress excessively.
overpowered with confusion and desire.
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to gain mastery over the bodily powers or mental faculties of.
a strong drink that quickly overpowered him.
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to furnish or equip with excessive power.
a giant motor that overpowered the pump.
verb
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to conquer or subdue by superior force
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to have such a strong effect on as to make helpless or ineffective
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to supply with more power than necessary
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overpowersimple
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overpowerssimple
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have overpoweredperfect
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has overpoweredperfect
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am overpoweringprogressive
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are overpoweringprogressive
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is overpoweringprogressive
-
have been overpoweringperfect progressive
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has been overpoweringperfect progressive
Past
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overpoweredsimple
-
had overpoweredperfect
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was overpoweringprogressive
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were overpoweringprogressive
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had been overpoweringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overpower
Explanation
To overpower is to overcome with greater strength. In order to win an arm-wrestling match, you must overpower your opponent. The word overpower is often used in situations where great force is used or required against some person or thing. One army might overpower another, or a mugger might overpower his victim. But delicate things, like the scent of a perfume, can also overpower you, especially if they're too strong. Our emotions can also overpower us: we cheer after a home run and swoon when it's love at first sight.
Vocabulary lists containing overpower
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 20–25
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Words for Cheese Writers
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"Rachel the Clever"
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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.
See Examples For:
Conductor Kelly Kuo captured the opera’s pacing but sometimes let the orchestra overpower the singers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
He wanted to include his friends in the world of “Omakase” without letting the feature list overpower the project’s mystique.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
Often, it’s “winner takes all” in the tech industry, and large companies can overpower their competitors once they get to a certain market share.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
However, that is to take nothing away from Croatia's Prizmic, who played bravely to overpower the Serb 2-6 6-2 6-4.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The remembrance seemed for a while to overpower her, and she drooped and would have sunk down but for her husband’s sustaining arm.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
“It was confusing, because as the judge speaks, her microphone overpowers the translator on the video call,” Alberto said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
It has spread extensively across the north-west Highlands where it often overpowers native species.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
“I still think about everything that could happen. I just love the game so much that it overpowers it.”
From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024
His brother overpowers him at the business they co-own.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2024
Food arrives and overpowers the fragrance of flowers.
From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen
Were those chuckles overpowered by groans and eye rolls?
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
The AI trade, even after some bumps late last year, has so far overpowered those hurdles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Japan Society presented avant-garde, multidisciplinary Japanese dancer Hiroaki Umeda’s dazzling multimedia “assimilating,” a display that well overpowered the Met’s attempts at video and movement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
He's not overly concerned about teenagers on overpowered e-bikes.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her; who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the soul’s slavery for the rest of her days.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
“Record output and the storage overhang are simply overpowering whatever residual weather-driven power burn is still left in the late-summer schedule,” Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
If it doesn’t quite know what to do with the overpowering, Zurg-like menace of technology taking over life on this planet, nobody else does either.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
At points during the third and fourth sets, he was hitting the ball 40mph faster than Djokovic on his groundstrokes, with his brutal striking overpowering the Serb at the back of court.
From BBC ● May 29, 2026
Dustin Dunwoody, Royal: Armed with an overpowering fastball, Dunwoody is 7-0, has an 0.18 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
“Believe me, all the guilty parties will be found and punished accordingly,” the judge continued, her voice overpowering everything.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
