overstrung

[ oh-ver-struhng ]

See synonyms for overstrung on Thesaurus.com

adjective

overly tense or sensitive; strained; on edge: Their nerves were badly overstrung.
Archery. (of a bow) strung too tightly.

Origin of overstrung

First recorded in 1800–10; over- + strung

Words Nearby overstrung

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use overstrung in a sentence

If our nerves are overstrung, or our tempers tried, so far from endeavouring to conceal the fact we make them feel it.
How to be Happy Though Married | E. J. Hardy.
The interruption checked his words, but could not check the red fury that was surging through Slaughter's overstrung brain.
Colonial Born | G. Firth Scott
To her overstrung nerves each darker shadow held an evil menace.
A German Pompadour | Marie Hay
The whole world seemed a great musical instrument, overstrung and giving out previously unknown harmonies and inharmonies.
Robin | Frances Hodgson Burnett
It was at this moment more than ever true that her light being was overstrung and that her light head whirled too fast.
Robin | Frances Hodgson Burnett

British Dictionary definitions for overstrung

overstrung

/ (ˌəʊvəˈstrʌŋ) /

adjective

too highly strung; tense
(of a piano) having two sets of strings crossing each other at an oblique angle

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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