overstimulate

American  

[oh-ver-stim-yuh-layt] / ˌoʊ vərˈstɪm jəˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

overstimulated, overstimulated

1. to stimulate (something) to an excessive or harmful degree.

2. Physiology. to cause (someone) to experience sensory overload.

3. Physiology. to cause (a gland, nerve, or other organ) to become overactive and produce an abnormal increase in its usual activity.

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verb (used without object)

overstimulated, overstimulated

1. Physiology. (especially of a gland or nerve) to become overactive and produce an abnormal increase in its usual activity.

Other Word Forms

• overstimulation
  noun
• overstimulative
  adjective
• overstimulatory
  adjective

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Explanation

Overstimulate means to overwhelm someone, or make something overactive. Feeling angry, frustrated, or upset in a noisy or brightly lit space might suggest that you're easy to overstimulate. Caffeine might overstimulate your brain and make it difficult to sleep, or loud music which is fun at first might eventually make you feel overwhelmed, or overstimulated. Stimulate means "to provide stimulus or input." Overstimulate means "to provide an overwhelming amount of input."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overstimulate overstimulated

The pulsating music, giant inflatables tossed into the crowd and sudden blasts of fog can overstimulate kids.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025

Alicia also says day-to-day activities, like grocery shopping, medical appointments and haircuts, have been abandoned, as she prioritises preventing situations that could overstimulate her son.

From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2024

Making a room hypertransparent for people who are deaf may overstimulate people who are autistic.

From Scientific American ● Mar. 20, 2023

Yet the complex mixture of allergens, toxins, and proteins can destroy cells, spread pain, overstimulate nerves, and drive down blood pressure for those who are allergic.

From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2020

Failing to get the taste of our food, we think it insipid, and hence use condiments that overstimulate the digestive organs.

From Hygienic Physiology : with Special Reference to the Use of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics by Joel Dorman Steele

I’m sure the scientific explanation involves ecstatic brain hormones, leading to an overstimulated smile reflex.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

But if they are overstimulated, they will have the opposite effect, creating stomach cramping, vomiting, nausea, irritability, and panic when exposed to even a small amount.

From Slate ● Jun. 13, 2026

Would you need a room to go to if you do get overstimulated?

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2025

Conversely, the second generation of fish -- the generation that was never exposed to pesticides, except through their parents -- demonstrated hyperactive behavior, swimming more and acting overstimulated compared to the control.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2024

Images of his father danced in the havoc of a brain overstimulated by events.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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