overconfidence

noun

over·​con·​fi·​dence ˌō-vər-ˈkän-fə-dən(t)s 

-ˌden(t)s

: an excess of confidence (as in one's abilities or judgment) : confidence that is not justified

warned against overconfidence when investing

People tend to overestimate their skills behind the wheel and underestimate the skills of the boobs and psychopaths driving around them, a phenomenon that psychologists call "optimism bias" and the rest of us simply call delusional overconfidence.

—David H. Freedman

Examples of overconfidence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This overconfidence often stems from a lack of understanding about the depth of protection needed. —Tony Bradley, Forbes, 16 Aug. 2024

Early in the war, Moscow’s effort was plagued by ignorance, overconfidence, and bad planning. —Gideon Rose, Foreign Affairs, 14 Oct. 2022

That success may have led to overconfidence; as the Tinzaouaten incident shows, there are very real security challenges across Mali, and Wagner’s tactics, including indiscriminate violence and targeting civilians, are far from the most effective tools for addressing Mali’s security crises. —Christopher Michael Faulkner, The Conversation, 9 Aug. 2024

Through a series of studies with more than 1,000 employees from the U.S. and China, researchers shed light on these questions by showing that passion is associated with overconfidence in our own performance. —Erica R. Bailey, kai Krautter, wen Wu, adam D. Galinsky, jon M. Jachimowicz, Harvard Business Review, 24 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1622, in the meaning defined above