overrefine
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
-
to refine (something) to excess
-
(intr) to make excessively fine distinctions
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of overrefine
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.
Haters could accuse the car of being overrefined, I suppose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
At other times he is an overrefined rhymester who thinks it snazzy to pretend that "pre-au-roral" is the best English version of a straightforward Russian word meaning "daybreak."
From Time Magazine Archive
Gieseking's Mozartian style has slid out of fashion somewhat since these recordings were made in the early 1950s; nowadays he is considered just a bit slick and overrefined.
From Time Magazine Archive
A beautiful, almost overrefined French deathpiece, finely done.
From Time Magazine Archive
In their self-conscious striving, their purity is strikingly mannerist and overrefined.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
