1
as in smug
having too high an opinion of oneself
a director who has little patience for overweening actors who think they are above taking advice and criticism
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in excessive
going beyond a normal or acceptable limit in degree or amount
overweening desire for wealth and fame
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3
as in arrogant
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
an overweening administrator who simply doesn't know how to manage people
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4
as in inflated
extended beyond normal or realistic bounds
an overweening national pride that prompted its citizens to denigrate other countries
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overweening
The doctrine itself has had all manner of ill effects on the capacity of employers to apply race-neutral or gender-neutral standards of qualification and fitness, and replaced the concept of an equal opportunity employer with the overweening human resources departments that gave us DEI.
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The Editors, National Review, 25 Apr. 2025
The overweening, violent farmer Xan Xanta and his mentally disabled younger brother Loren wanted to sell their land.
—Bartolomeo Sala, The Dial, 27 Mar. 2025
But there’s something dingy and gross, like mottled drifts of old snow, about the overweening influence of Trump’s courtiers and their grubbing relationship with a president so obviously enamored of money and flattery.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 26 Jan. 2025
To deny Moscow such a dominant position was the overweening objective of all administrations, Democratic or Republican, since World War II.
—Josef Joffe, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2016
See All Example Sentences for overweening
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overweening
Adjective
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But that poem is no smug cliché.—
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Marcello is looking especially smug and evil in this scene for reasons unclear.—
Adjective
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Diane Nygaard, an Oceanside resident and representative of the nonprofit Preserve Calavera, said the developer’s request for 14 waivers of city development standards is excessive.—
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Shorter days and excessive time indoors?—
Adjective
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This version of Ryan was arrogant, unable to conceal pride in his accomplishment.—
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So long as that situation continues, the 43-year-old’s allegedly arrogant and stand-offish treatment of his players will not worry the club hierarchy too much.—
Adjective
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Another agency investigation revealed that a former CPS employee defrauded the district of potentially more than $135,000 over three years by reporting false or inflated work hours, the report said.—
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Investors also periodically rotated out of tech and into value areas of the market due to worries of inflated valuations in the AI trade.—
Adjective
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South Florida sports history is proud to have been the host for Crump’s barrier-busting history.—
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The Big Ten is marching into the heart of Southern football with a proud swagger, daring any conference to challenge its claim as the power to beat in the College Football Playoff.—
Adjective
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An extreme cold watch is issued when dangerously cold air temperatures or wind chill values are possible.—
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Here, sea level rise is accelerating at some of the most extreme rates on Earth, while hurricanes increasingly are swirling ashore with an unprecedented ferociousness.—
Adjective
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However, there's no strong evidence suggesting that strength-training in a fasted state is superior to training in a fed state for muscle growth or performance.—
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Neither assurance of German manufacture nor of superior sound quality sufficed to get the bills back into the salesman’s palm.—
Adjective
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Don’t be fooled by their budget-friendly cost, either, because the pants deliver an expensive air thanks to their high-fashion pleats and exaggerated silhouette.—
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These presets aim to reduce unfocused or exaggerated AI aesthetics.—
Cite this Entry
“Overweening.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overweening. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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