as in excesses
the state or an instance of going beyond what is usual, proper, or needed
the song already borders on the maudlin—the addition of a syrupy string accompaniment would just be overkill
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overkills
Noun
-
Its cruel and even lawless excesses have reverberated around the globe.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
9 May 2026 -
Though Lord of the Flies surely suffers from some of the bloat endemic to streaming, even its excesses come in the name of emotional potency.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
4 May 2026
Noun
-
The budget is trimmed as Missouri has chewed through surpluses built over years of federal pandemic aid.—
Jack Harvel,
Kansas City Star,
5 May 2026
-
Opponents may argue the state needs every dollar for its own priorities, but Connecticut is in a strong fiscal position with consistent surpluses and healthy reserves.—
Jennifer Mahr,
Hartford Courant,
1 May 2026
Noun
-
That can allow attackers to leverage serious vulnerabilities like buffer overflows and memory leaks to compromise devices.—
Nate Anderson,
ArsTechnica,
13 Apr. 2026
-
And in places where sewage and rain flow through the same pipes, heavy rains made worse by climate change can make overflows to waterways more frequent and severe.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The ratio is also an important one because abundances of deuterium and hydrogen throughout the universe are thought to have been set during the Big Bang itself.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
23 Apr. 2026
-
According to the team, this means that having a dog in the house might shift the abundances of some mouth bacteria—potentially bacteria that might correlate with the adolescents’ psychological scores.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
3 Dec. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Overkills.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overkills. Accessed 13 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
