overwrought
adjective
over·wrought
ˌō-vər-ˈrȯt 
ˌō-və-
Synonyms
Examples of overwrought in a Sentence
The witness became overwrought as she described the crime.
became overwrought when she heard that her child was missing
Recent Examples on the Web
Yet, Monteverde and co-writer Rod Barr mostly concentrate on the series of repetitive verbal confrontations and, despite the overwrought length of their project, neglect to construct a portrait of this heroine that reveals her humanity or even her relationship to God.
—
Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024
His singing is expertly calibrated to achieve maximum impact, without a hint of the overwrought delivery that can make too many stadium concerts exercises in empty histrionics.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024
The ban is a long-shot effort by lawmakers who harbor some (arguably overwrought) concerns about Americans’ data security winding up in the hands of Chinese spy agencies.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
Subtle ways in which the filmmakers cut corners lead to more overwrought dramatic moments.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Sometimes the dishes, like sticky lamb ribs glazed in thick pomegranate molasses barbecue sauce and finished with fried rosemary and pickled persimmons, come off overwrought, and a too-busy take on a Caesar salad could use one less ingredient.
—Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024
Thrones was still cheap enough to avoid big battle scenes, but that gave the writers more time for delectably overwrought character introductions.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 29 Feb. 2024
That flavor of dread wound up destabilizing the storyline, which begins to collapse as Berlant’s overwrought, faux-memoiristic account of her journey to fame is bedeviled by technical difficulties and her own festering doubts.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 15 Feb. 2024
There's no pesky, overwrought backstory here, no mustache origin stories.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Sep. 2023
Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024
His singing is expertly calibrated to achieve maximum impact, without a hint of the overwrought delivery that can make too many stadium concerts exercises in empty histrionics.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Mar. 2024
The ban is a long-shot effort by lawmakers who harbor some (arguably overwrought) concerns about Americans’ data security winding up in the hands of Chinese spy agencies.
—Allison Morrow, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024
Subtle ways in which the filmmakers cut corners lead to more overwrought dramatic moments.
—Stephen Saito, Variety, 9 Mar. 2024
Sometimes the dishes, like sticky lamb ribs glazed in thick pomegranate molasses barbecue sauce and finished with fried rosemary and pickled persimmons, come off overwrought, and a too-busy take on a Caesar salad could use one less ingredient.
—Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024
Thrones was still cheap enough to avoid big battle scenes, but that gave the writers more time for delectably overwrought character introductions.
—Darren Franich, EW.com, 29 Feb. 2024
That flavor of dread wound up destabilizing the storyline, which begins to collapse as Berlant’s overwrought, faux-memoiristic account of her journey to fame is bedeviled by technical difficulties and her own festering doubts.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 15 Feb. 2024
There's no pesky, overwrought backstory here, no mustache origin stories.
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overwrought.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Overwrought.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overwrought. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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overwrought
adjective
over·wrought
ˌō-və(r)-ˈrȯt
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