over·bur·den
ˌō-vər-ˈbər-dᵊn 
overburdened; overburdening; overburdens
: to place an excessive burden on
over·bur·den
ˈō-vər-ˌbər-dᵊn
: material overlying a deposit of useful geologic materials or bedrock
Synonyms
Examples of overburden in a Sentence
Verb
She overburdened me with work.
Why overburden yourself when people are offering to help?
Recent Examples on the Web
Jennifer Egan, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023
The move has caused concerns for housing advocates who say the city's shelter system is already overburdened, and homeless people who are moved from their campsites often have nowhere to go.
—The Courier-Journal, 24 Aug. 2023
What too often results is a climate disaster that overburdens existing emergency management plans.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 16 Aug. 2023
One study found that the pandemic actually increased the workload for women of color, who were already overburdened in all aspects of their lives.
—Leslie Smith, Forbes, 3 May 2023
Given his importance to the future, overburdening Bello in the second half would be a mistake.
—Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2023
This is all while our public servants remain underpaid and overburdened due to staffing shortages and an overall decline in public support.
—Paige Eichkorn, Arkansas Online, 1 May 2023
The city has a number of factors to consider, like taking into account different sites’ capacities, making sure certain neighborhoods are not overburdened with processing food waste, and optimizing transportation routes to minimize truck traffic.
—Curbed, 6 Apr. 2023
Italian health officials intensified heat warnings as southern Europe began a brutally hot week on Monday with temperatures expected to top 40 C — or 104 F — on a continent already overburdened by tourists.
—Kim Tong-Hyung, USA TODAY, 18 July 2023
Wendy Dean, STAT, 7 June 2023
Approaches to reduce firearm violence should also be coupled with an investment in addressing social and economic factors such as concentrated poverty and segregation that contribute to an overburden of violence in under-resourced communities.
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 May 2022
This is partly due to an overburden of industry in minority neighborhoods.
—Safia Samee Ali, NBC News, 18 Feb. 2022
The working assumption was that everything would soon be crushed by the overburden of snow anyway.
—Jon Gertner, WIRED, 12 June 2019
Keep in mind, the whole purpose of this was to relieve students of the overburden of exams and let teachers teach.
—Kristen M. Clark, miamiherald, 3 May 2017
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Verb
Clients move around and rarely have phones; case managers—a position that generally requires no higher education, license, or specialized training—are poorly paid and often overburdened, though the good ones are heroic and save lives.
—Jennifer Egan, The New Yorker, 11 Sep. 2023
The move has caused concerns for housing advocates who say the city's shelter system is already overburdened, and homeless people who are moved from their campsites often have nowhere to go.
—The Courier-Journal, 24 Aug. 2023
What too often results is a climate disaster that overburdens existing emergency management plans.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 16 Aug. 2023
One study found that the pandemic actually increased the workload for women of color, who were already overburdened in all aspects of their lives.
—Leslie Smith, Forbes, 3 May 2023
Given his importance to the future, overburdening Bello in the second half would be a mistake.
—Peter Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2023
This is all while our public servants remain underpaid and overburdened due to staffing shortages and an overall decline in public support.
—Paige Eichkorn, Arkansas Online, 1 May 2023
The city has a number of factors to consider, like taking into account different sites’ capacities, making sure certain neighborhoods are not overburdened with processing food waste, and optimizing transportation routes to minimize truck traffic.
—Curbed, 6 Apr. 2023
Italian health officials intensified heat warnings as southern Europe began a brutally hot week on Monday with temperatures expected to top 40 C — or 104 F — on a continent already overburdened by tourists.
—Kim Tong-Hyung, USA TODAY, 18 July 2023
Noun
The demand-resource mismatches of burnout, the operational drivers, are substantial and must be addressed: clumsy electronic medical records, understaffing, and administrative overburden, among others.
—Wendy Dean, STAT, 7 June 2023
Approaches to reduce firearm violence should also be coupled with an investment in addressing social and economic factors such as concentrated poverty and segregation that contribute to an overburden of violence in under-resourced communities.
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 31 May 2022
This is partly due to an overburden of industry in minority neighborhoods.
—Safia Samee Ali, NBC News, 18 Feb. 2022
The working assumption was that everything would soon be crushed by the overburden of snow anyway.
—Jon Gertner, WIRED, 12 June 2019
Keep in mind, the whole purpose of this was to relieve students of the overburden of exams and let teachers teach.
—Kristen M. Clark, miamiherald, 3 May 2017
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overburden.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near overburden
Cite this Entry
“Overburden.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overburden. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.
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More from Merriam-Webster on overburden
Nglish: Translation of overburden for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about overburden
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