overcautious

adjective

over·​caut·​ious ˌō-vər-ˈkȯ-shəs 

: too cautious : overcareful

an overcautious driver

Some vigilance is advisable, but there is a risk in parents being overcautious.

—Peter McGuire

overcautiously adverb

investing overcautiously

Examples of overcautious in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And yet, since the spring of 2021, pundits have mocked people who continue to think this way for being irrational and overcautious, and government officials have consistently framed COVID as a matter of personal responsibility. —Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2022

Or, at least, overcautious, overwatchful young men and women. —Han Ong, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2023

Be overcautious and a perfectly clear day goes to waste; be too bold and put the performers, audience and equipment at risk. —Abby Carney, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2021

Some parents said the new rules were overcautious and counterproductive. —Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2021

But Fauci has turned into the perpetually pessimistic, overcautious, position-shifting, administration-pleasing face of the pandemic recovery. —The Editors, National Review, 13 Apr. 2021

The risk of a dangerous vaccine reaction could be very real, if also very rare—and major European vaccine authorities have not, in fact, been overcautious, political, or innumerate in responding to this possibility. —Hilda Bastian, The Atlantic, 30 Mar. 2021

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Word History

First Known Use

1653, in the meaning defined above