overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

overly.

To an excessive degree.

6 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adv

  1. To an excessive degree.

    not-comparable · proscribed · sometimes
    Parents can be overly protective of their children.

  2. To a high degree; very.

    negative · not-comparable · usually
    I'm not overly enthusiastic about meeting him.

  3. Superficially.

    not-comparable · obsolete

  4. Carelessly, without due attention.

    not-comparable · obsolete

  5. With a sense of superiority, haughtily.

    not-comparable · obsolete
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Proto-West Germanic *obar Old English ofer Middle English over English over Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-Germanic *-ê Proto-Germanic *-līkê Proto-West Germanic *-līkē Old English -līċe Middle English -ly English -ly English overly From over + -ly (adverbial suffix).

adj

  1. Superficial; not thorough; careless, negligent, inattentive.

    obsolete

  2. Having a sense of superiority, haughty.

    obsolete

  3. Excessive; too great.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Proto-West Germanic *obar Old English ofer Middle English over English over Proto-Indo-European *leyg-der. Proto-Germanic *līkąder. Proto-Germanic *-līkaz Proto-West Germanic *-līk Old English -līċ Middle English -ly English -ly English overly From over + -ly (adjectival suffix).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.