overtax
Americanverb (used with object)
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overtaxes,
present (3rd person singular)
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overtaxed,
past participle, past
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overtaxing
present participle
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to tax too heavily.
-
to make too great demands on.
verb
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to tax too heavily
-
to impose too great a strain on
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overtaxsimple
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overtaxessimple
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have overtaxedperfect
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has overtaxedperfect
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am overtaxingprogressive
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are overtaxingprogressive
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is overtaxingprogressive
-
have been overtaxingperfect progressive
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has been overtaxingperfect progressive
Past
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overtaxedsimple
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had overtaxedperfect
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was overtaxingprogressive
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were overtaxingprogressive
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had been overtaxingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overtax
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:
Data centers that blend into their communities and don’t overtax local resources actually exist, they just don’t make news.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
The heavy rains and floods also forced Formula One to cancel this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix to not overtax emergency crews that were already stretched thin in responding to the emergency.
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2023
Their innovative approach to pitching led them to overtax pitchers and deploy their best arms in unconventional ways that diminished their abilities rather than amplifying them.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 24, 2021
You overtax your relationships, battle exhaustion and your sense of normality crumbles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2021
To climb Mount Blanc would overtax my heart: is it therefore inadvisable for me to climb the two flights to my laboratory?
From McClure's Magazine, Vol. XXXI, No. 4, August 1908 by Various
She never looks less than perfectly photoshopped, but the production ultimately overtaxes her strengths.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2025
Venable distills his situation into a scene, which he then overtaxes into a full-scale play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
Putting pencil to paper forces people to give spatial information—something that most liars have not prepared for as part of planning their lies and that, therefore, overtaxes their mental resources.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 27, 2011
Pidgeon's voice is light and agile -- it couldn't fill up a concert hall, but she never overtaxes herself and instead achieves an understated, coffee-bar intimacy.
From Time Magazine Archive
Taking food that is not required not only is an extravagance in the matter of food, but overtaxes the digestive organs.
From Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 5: Fruit and Fruit Desserts; Canning and Drying; Jelly Making, Preserving and Pickling; Confections; Beverages; the Planning of Meals by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Ms. Medina, playing the flustered, overtaxed Tiphaine, is terrific, as is Ms. Arné, whose Lucie has to toggle from hard-boiled detective to strategy-free investigator.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
But on a few days each year—particularly during heat waves, when people are using air conditioners—the grid gets overtaxed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2025
Finally, the resistance is not being waged only by the small, under-resourced, and overtaxed yet committed group of activists who have been sounding the alarm and fighting the fight in lonely trenches for years.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2025
The mandate for Disney’s studios “to support both the theatrical window and Disney+ has overtaxed their creative engine,” Creutz, the analyst, said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2023
It’s critical that we stay within the weight limit, or our oxen will be overtaxed.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
Any reform plan from a committee would still require lawmakers to cast a difficult vote exposing them to charges of overtaxing working Americans or stiffing retirees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
On both occasions, the science demonstrates that humans are overtaxing our oceans' ability to offset climate change.
From Salon ● May 9, 2024
But now Washington will hope Williams can provide a similar service, especially after their starters made a habit out of overtaxing the bullpen.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2022
To successfully ramp up Californians’ reliance on electric vehicles over the next decade without overtaxing the state’s power grid, more drivers will need to charge their cars during the day, a Stanford study has found.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2022
"I hope my sister is not overtaxing her strength, so soon after her illness. It would be a great pity if she were to suffer a relapse."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
