- overwrought
- adjective Etymology: past participle of overwork Date: 1638 1. extremely excited ; agitated 2. elaborated to excess ; overdone
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
overwrought
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Overwrought — O ver*wrought, p. p. & a. from {Overwork}. 1. Wrought upon excessively; overworked. [1913 Webster] 2. Extremely agitated or excited; overexcited; of people. [PJC] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
overwrought — index demonstrative (expressive of emotion), frenetic Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
overwrought — (adj.) worked up to too high a pitch, 1825, lit. over worked, from OVER (Cf. over) + WROUGHT (Cf. wrought) … Etymology dictionary
overwrought — [adj] exhausted and excited affected, agitated, all shook up*, beside oneself*, crazy, distracted, emotional, excitable, fired up*, flipped out*, frantic, freaked out*, high*, hot and bothered*, hot under collar*, hyper*, in a state*, keyed up*,… … New thesaurus
overwrought — ► ADJECTIVE 1) in a state of nervous excitement or anxiety. 2) (of a piece of writing or a work of art) too elaborate or complicated. ORIGIN archaic past participle of OVERWORK(Cf. ↑overwork) … English terms dictionary
overwrought — [ō΄vər rôt′] adj. 1. Archaic overworked; fatigued 2. very nervous or excited 3. with the surface adorned 4. too elaborate; ornate … English World dictionary
overwrought — /oh veuhr rawt , oh veuhr /, adj. 1. extremely or excessively excited or agitated: to become overwrought on hearing bad news; an overwrought personality. 2. elaborated to excess; excessively complex or ornate: written in a florid, overwrought… … Universalium
Overwrought — Overwork O ver*work , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Overworked}or {Overwrought}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Overworking}.] 1. To work beyond the strength; to cause to labor too much or too long; to tire excessively; as, to overwork a horse. [1913 Webster] 2. To… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
overwrought — [[t]o͟ʊvə(r)rɔ͟ːt[/t]] ADJ GRADED Someone who is overwrought is very upset and is behaving in an uncontrolled way. One overwrought member had to be restrained by friends. Syn: distraught … English dictionary
overwrought — adjective 1) she was too overwrought to listen Syn: tense, agitated, nervous, on edge, edgy, keyed up, worked up, high strung, neurotic, overexcited, beside oneself, distracted, distraught, frantic, hysterical; informal in a state, in a tizzy … Thesaurus of popular words
overwrought — o|ver|wrought [ˌəuvəˈro:t US ˌouvəˈro:t] adj [Date: 1600 1700; Origin: Old past participle of overwork] very upset, nervous, and worried ▪ Clara was tired and overwrought after all the problems of the last few days … Dictionary of contemporary English
