overstrung
Americanadjective
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overly tense or sensitive; strained; on edge.
Their nerves were badly overstrung.
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Archery. (of a bow) strung too tightly.
adjective
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too highly strung; tense
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(of a piano) having two sets of strings crossing each other at an oblique angle
Etymology
Origin of overstrung
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.
Yes, overstrung, gaudily painted, honky tonk joannas for passersby to hammer out jazz standards on, which – naturally – many appeared to be able to do.
From The Guardian • Nov. 5, 2016
Both teams were overstrung, playing crazily in their eagerness to win.
From Time Magazine Archive
He does not need to laugh, for laughter, like weeping, is a relief of mental tension�and the happy are not overstrung.
From Time Magazine Archive
For no very evident reason, except that he was overstrung, he could have shouted in alarm as he lay upon the wet flooring in the dark.
From The Boy Ranchers of Puget Sound by Bindloss, Harold
True, he had seen no animals which he could have any cause to fear, but at this moment of overstrung nerves he felt a child's dread of the dark.
From With Drake on the Spanish Main by Strang, Herbert
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.
