overachiever
Americannoun
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a person who performs better or achieves more than people are generally expected to, often because of high ambition, pressure from family, etc..
Ever the overachiever, he reached his sales goal for the year a whopping five months early.
-
a person who performs, especially academically, above the potential indicated by tests of their mental ability or aptitude.
We found many overachievers with modest SAT scores who nevertheless achieved high GPAs across a variety of majors.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of overachiever
First recorded in 1935–40; over- ( def. ) + achieve ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )
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:
If the bare minimum is enough for you to be seen and recognized for solid work, there might be no need to become an office overachiever.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 30, 2025
Gilbert, who had the same likelihood of inheriting the disease but did not, said losing them turned her into an overachiever who always wanted to fight for the underdog.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025
Harris recalls being an overachiever as a child and aspiring to become an obstetrician.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2025
If you’re an overachiever who’s already listened to every single playlist?
From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2023
She’s in the one and only elective class she has all year, because she’s an overachiever.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Brighton, currently seventh in the EPL, is consistently one of the biggest overachievers in English soccer and Union Saint-Gilloise, which plays in a 9,000-seat stadium, last year reached the Champions League.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
We've even seen how results of teams eventually fall in line with their underlying numbers over the course of this season, with early overachievers Aston Villa and Sunderland.
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
Like any friend group, “Next Gen NYC” is filled with overachievers and underachievers; people who have family money and people who work long hours, scraping by to make their way in the big city.
From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2025
Bella, who’s 53 and solitary in ways that can seem extreme even in a town of bookish overachievers, takes an interest in Christopher despite his abrasive manner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2023
It is not uncommon for doctors to be chronic overachievers; Beck wasn’t the first physician to go overboard with a new hobby.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
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.
