overwrought
Americanadjective
-
extremely or excessively excited or agitated.
to become overwrought on hearing bad news; an overwrought personality.
- Synonyms:
- frantic, distracted
-
elaborated to excess; excessively complex or ornate.
written in a florid, overwrought style.
-
Archaic. wearied or exhausted by overwork.
adjective
-
full of nervous tension; agitated
-
too elaborate; fussy
an overwrought style
-
with the surface decorated or adorned
Etymology
Origin of overwrought
Explanation
High in drama and lacking any emotional restraint, overwrought is an adjective that means deeply, excessively agitated or nervous. Say your favorite soap star gets killed off in episode 12. If you sob uncontrollably, tear at your hair, and refuse to leave the couch for a week, most would say your response was overwrought — in other words, a bit much. But it's not just emotions that can go over the top. The gaudy, golden McMansion covered in ornate Italian statuary where your soap star lives in real life? Totally overdone, or overwrought, with details.
Vocabulary lists containing overwrought
The Phantom Tollbooth
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A Streetcar Named Desire
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Don't Panic! Synonyms for "Stress"
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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.
Such storylines might seem overwrought, but “these movies,” Ms. Basinger writes, “were a way of recognizing the problems of women, of addressing their desire to have things be other than the way they were offscreen.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
It's all a bit overwrought for my taste.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Its empirics are weak External link, its theory underspecified External link, and its narrative overwrought.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
Del Toro’s work is just as overwrought, just as bogged down by ideas and just as keen to emphasize style over narrative substance as Fennell’s.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
Felicia remembers how when she was in grammar school the paraphernalia of faith had proved more intriguing than its overwrought lessons.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
