Synonyms of overweening

overweening

adjective

ˌō-vər-ˈwē-niŋ 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• smug
• arrogant
• proud
• vainglorious
• vain
• domineering
• self-important
• egotistic
• selfish
• conceited
• pompous
• egoistic
• bigheaded
• complacent
• prideful
• important
• self-satisfied
• confident
• self-conceited
• consequential
• stuck-up
• cavalier
• swaggering
• biggety
• boastful
• swellheaded
• bumptious
• bombastic
• supercilious
• assured
• haughty
• self-opinionated
• cocky
• snobbish
• blusterous
• high-and-mighty
• uppity
• snooty
• pontifical
• overconfident
• masterful
• snobby
• blustery
• braggart
• bragging
• superior
• high-handed
• assumptive
• lordly
• disdainful
• imperious
• holier-than-thou
• chesty
• uppish
• braggy
• pretentious
• self-assertive
• huffy
• peremptory
• toplofty
• self-confident
• high-hat
• presumptuous
• presuming
• self-assured
• patronizing
• self-centered
• self-asserting
• condescending
• fastuous
• lofty
• highfalutin
• self-contented
• self-congratulatory
• self-glorifying
• self-dramatizing
• self-promoting
• self-engrossed
• self-adulatory
• self-gratulatory
• self-applauding
• self-affected

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• modest
• humble
• egoless
• diffident
• timid
• meek
• self-critical
• unassertive
• uncomplacent
• self-doubting
• unassuming
• shrinking
• bashful
• unpretentious
• sheepish
• down-to-earth
• self-distrustful
• self-reproachful
• self-reproving
• introverted
• mousy
• shy
• retiring
• overmodest
• demure
• unarrogant

2

as in excessive

going beyond a normal or acceptable limit in degree or amount

overweening desire for wealth and fame

Synonyms & Similar Words

• excessive
• extreme
• extravagant
• insane
• steep
• undue
• infinite
• inordinate
• lavish
• endless
• immoderate
• baroque
• exorbitant
• intolerable
• over-the-top
• fancy
• unmerciful
• unconscionable
• towering
• unbearable
• overmuch
• devilish
• inappropriate
• plethoric
• stiff
• overdue
• overextravagant
• boundless
• improper
• unwarranted
• limitless
• a bit much
• immeasurable
• unjustifiable
• unseemly
• unrestrained
• thick

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• reasonable
• moderate
• modest
• inadequate
• insufficient
• middling
• deficient
• temperate
• minimal
• minimum

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• arrogant
• superior
• cavalier
• domineering
• bumptious
• supercilious
• dominant
• haughty
• high-and-mighty
• important
• uppity
• pompous
• imperious
• high-handed
• pretentious
• smug
• sniffy
• assumptive
• masterful
• lordly
• authoritarian
• chesty
• uppish
• presumptuous
• presuming
• dominating
• huffy
• peremptory
• high-hat
• highfalutin
• self-assertive
• patronizing
• self-asserting
• proud
• lofty
• huffish
• toplofty
• magisterial
• impudent
• stiff-necked
• pontifical
• condescending
• hubristic
• bossy
• vainglorious
• boastful
• narcissistic
• snobbish
• swaggering
• bombastic
• egocentric
• snooty
• disdainful
• cocky
• egotistic
• snobby
• vain
• saucy
• blusterous
• conceited
• impertinent
• egoistic
• blustery
• complacent
• uninhibited
• pontificating
• prideful
• self-centered
• self-complacent
• self-satisfied
• immodest
• bragging
• braggart
• self-conceited
• unreserved
• brash
• self-flattering
• extroverted
• braggy
• stuck-up
• self-promoting
• self-loving
• orgulous
• self-affected
• self-applauding
• self-pleased
• forward

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• modest
• humble
• lowly
• timid
• unpretentious
• shrinking
• bashful
• subdued
• sheepish
• diffident
• shy
• introverted
• passive
• mousy
• deferential
• acquiescent
• demure
• meek
• submissive
• unassuming
• unobtrusive
• compliant
• unarrogant
• yielding
• unassertive
• unaggressive
• self-doubting
• self-critical
• overmodest
• cringing
• quiet
• cowering
• reserved
• retiring

4

as in inflated

extended beyond normal or realistic bounds

an overweening national pride that prompted its citizens to denigrate other countries

Synonyms & Similar Words

• inflated
• exaggerated
• overblown
• outsize
• overdrawn
• bloated
• hyperbolized
• enlarged
• unreasonable
• stretched
• magnified
• overstated
• padded
• grandiose
• embroidered
• overplayed
• overemphasized
• unrealistic
• unreal
• embellished
• elaborated
• overdone
• hyped-up
• preposterous

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• reasonable
• realistic

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of overweening

That experience left me with an indelible lesson about the overweening willpower that carried otherwise ordinary men to such heights, or depths, of achievement. — Alfred McCoy, Literary Hub, 26 Feb. 2026

Henry manages to put in a good, if overweening, performance at Web Horizons, going off-prompter to lament the lack of sincerity in modern life without bothering to relate it back to mobile banking. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 2 Feb. 2026

Stage and screen director Maria Friedman focuses this story tightly on Frank (both figuratively and literally, on film), cursed with overwhelming talent and overweening ambition. — Gemma Wilson, Boston Herald, 5 Dec. 2025

Iraqi nationalism is the ultimate hedge against Iran’s overweening ambitions; no Iraqi wishes for his or her country to become a pawn of Iran. — Linda S. Robinson, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2019

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