How to Use overwrought in a Sentence

overwrought

adjective
Definition of overwroughtnext
Synonyms for overwroughtnext
  • The witness became overwrought as she described the crime.
  • So, the ‘overwrought rhetoric about book banning has no place’ in this case.
    — Jack Greiner, The Enquirer, 21 Aug. 2022
  • Onion rings would surely tip the scales into the overwrought side of things.
    — Kenzie Bryant, Vanities, 16 June 2017
  • Dennis Quaid was over-the-top, the music was overwrought.
    — WIRED, 29 Oct. 2021
  • Kendall Roy would hatch overwrought schemes against them.
    — Ellen Gamerman, WSJ, 26 Mar. 2023
  • The ending, which attempts to meld tragedy and pathos, struck me as overwrought.
    — Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Feb. 2018
  • But the jump scares aren’t scary, and the story is overwrought and unfocused.
    — Dallas News, 23 Feb. 2023
  • The new cabin is airy, and the design never feels overwrought.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 15 June 2018
  • There’s lots of talk of God and goodness; past traumas are overwrought.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2021
  • But while the play asks big questions, its working out of the answers feels both wispy and overwrought.
    — The New Yorker, 22 May 2017
  • Not the whole overwrought overman stuff, and not the conflation of pity and weakness.
    — Christian Wiman, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020
  • Songs roll in one after the next like waves, and nothing about his keyboards is overwrought.
    — Marc Myers, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022
  • There’s nothing overwrought about these five minutes of music, just the raw ache of what might have been.
    — Greg Kot, chicagotribune.com, 13 July 2018
  • Where Suchet is fussy and Branagh is overwrought, Ustinov is almost trolling.
    — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Nothing here is overthought or overwrought, either on the plate or in the décor.
    — Providence Cicero, The Seattle Times, 22 June 2017
  • Who would have thought that the 2nd most overwrought performance this week would be Kyle’s Little House on the Prairie episode from six faces ago?
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 19 July 2021
  • The view of Kennedy as a vacillator is unfair and overwrought.
    — Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, 26 May 2017
  • That’s our first cue that these inflation fears are overwrought.
    — Michael Foster, Forbes, 19 June 2021
  • There’s a time and place, of course, for narratives to become overwrought with plot pretzels.
    — Washington Post, 1 June 2021
  • The whole play gets elevated to a certain pitch, but does not get overwrought.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2024
  • His story, which is loosely based on the death of his own mother, is not morose or overwrought.
    — Emily Zemler, Esquire, 8 Sep. 2016
  • What if this tipping points meme is a bit overwrought and not as imminent as we have been led to believe?
    — Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2013
  • My genius kid will eat overwrought think pieces for breakfast!
    — Alex Baia, The New Yorker, 18 June 2021
  • All this is not to suggest that all A.I. investment is overwrought.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 28 June 2023
  • In a musical landscape that can feel overwrought, Orville Peck’s debut plays like a breath of fresh air.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 18 Dec. 2019
  • At times, though, the Agnew-as-Trump analogy is overwrought.
    — Washington Post, 18 Dec. 2020
  • The overwrought Southwestern swagger of Boudro’s was lost on me during a review a few years back.
    — Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Sep. 2021
  • But to argue that this is the main purpose of college athletics is overwrought.
    — Jenna Stocker, National Review, 24 Mar. 2022
  • Meanwhile, their softer brand of R&B provides a sturdier backdrop for the overwrought lyrics a breakup.
    — Billboard Staff, Billboard, 12 June 2018
  • The debate over the exact character of the landing of the economy as the Fed has kept steady pressure on the brake for 14 months might seem overwrought, as some Wall Street story lines become.
    — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 7 Sep. 2024

Some of 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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