overprotective
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- overprotectiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of overprotective
First recorded in 1925–30; over- + protective
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.
For many years American Jewish writing seemed to be all about sons—sons launched from Chicago, Brooklyn and the Bronx, sons of overprotective mothers, comics punning on “the son also rises.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025
That can make people vulnerable, and it can also make well-intentioned children overprotective.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 1, 2025
"Most of all, Matthew was an amazing dad. He loved his children and was always loving, caring and overprotective," they added.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2025
Then I added the wife, who is an overprotective Italian American mother who is a breast cancer survivor — my wife is a breast cancer survivor.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2023
“Uh, no. They’re cool. They’re just kinda overprotective, I guess.”
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
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.
