overabundance

noun

over·​abun·​dance ˌō-vər-ə-ˈbən-dən(t)s 

plural overabundances

: a large surplus : excess

an overabundance of options

Between the women's movement and the first large wave of baby boomers, the career track was suddenly clogged with an overabundance of qualified people.

—Phillip Moffitt

overabundant

ˌō-vər-ə-ˈbən-dənt 

adjective

Overabundant use of livestock and chicken feed laced with antibiotics is a primary force behind the evolution of drug-resistant strains that then find their way into people.

—Wayne Biddle

Overabundant elk ate trees down to their nubs, leaving beavers with no lumber for their dams, which, in turn, changed the flow of rivers.

—Sara Reardon

overabundantly adverb

The meals … were mainly taken at the hotel and were included in the trip package. We were fed overabundantly three times a day.

—R. V. Denenberg

… Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, an overabundantly plotted melodrama set in 15th-century Paris.

—Tom Gliatto

Synonyms

• bellyful
• excess
• fat
• overage
• overflow
• overkill
• overmuch
• overplus
• oversupply
• plethora
• plus
• redundancy
• superabundance
• superfluity
• surfeit
• surplus
• surplusage

Examples of overabundance in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If the overabundance of root vegetables like sunchokes, black radishes and kohlrabies the size of my head is the late-winter scourge of my C.S.A., the steady supply of braising greens is its redemption. —Melissa Clark, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024

That overabundance of bacteria wreaks havoc on the host deer’s hide. —Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 29 Feb. 2024

Giving an overabundance of something for nothing financial earned five attorneys from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach, three South Florida judges and a Hollywood law firm laudatory notice at The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2024

After more than a decade of an overabundance of capital, cash has suddenly become scarce. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 26 Jan. 2024

An overabundance of a species can threaten the ecosystem, other species and food supplies and can increase human-wildlife interactions. —Hayleigh Evans, The Arizona Republic, 20 Jan. 2024

An overabundance of electrolytes can cause conditions like hyperkalemia, or high potassium, which can damage your heart, according to the Cleveland Clinic. —Macaela MacKenzie, Glamour, 18 Jan. 2024

No Super Bowl is complete without an overabundance of food and drink. —Staff Report, Orange County Register, 8 Feb. 2024

The lack of a consistent narrative flow was also partly due to the overabundance of various advantages and twists at play. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 22 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above