as in too
beyond a normal or acceptable limit
there's no need to be overly careful about the rough draft, since we'll polish it afterwards
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overly
The National Alliance for Care at Home warned against overly broad action that could deter doctors and patients from recommending or seeking care.
—
Jody Godoy, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Transparent dresses and any other form of nude dressing were ruled out, as were any overly voluminous silhouettes or trains.
—Blanche Marcel, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
In a trial featuring a clash between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, neither of the tech titans has emerged as an overly sympathetic character.
—ABC News, 12 May 2026
In the third week of the trial in a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, neither of the tech titans has emerged as an overly sympathetic character.
—CBS News, 12 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for overly
Jody Godoy, USA Today, 13 May 2026
Transparent dresses and any other form of nude dressing were ruled out, as were any overly voluminous silhouettes or trains.
—Blanche Marcel, Vanity Fair, 12 May 2026
In a trial featuring a clash between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, neither of the tech titans has emerged as an overly sympathetic character.
—ABC News, 12 May 2026
In the third week of the trial in a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, neither of the tech titans has emerged as an overly sympathetic character.
—CBS News, 12 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for overly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overly
Adverb
-
Mauricio Dubón delivered the big blow on another Maton curveball that caught too much plate for a two-run homer.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
These programs are technically separate from the refugee program, but they, too, have been disrupted.—
Annie Hylton,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
Adverb
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The moment one starts perceiving what Arnold and friends undergo as excessively dismal, a quick peak at the live-action cruelty in action around the globe tempers that notion.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
15 May 2026
-
Local districts should be helped, not punished excessively due to the struggles of one school.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 May 2026
Adverb
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This kind of a prompt will generally get the AI to not unduly bring up the sleep or rest recommendations.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
-
Typically, though, restrictions on pretrial publicity must be narrowly tailored and must not unduly interfere with the press’s ability to inform the public about the proceedings.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
29 Apr. 2026
Adverb
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But even Black athletes whose athleticism gifted them an extremely exclusive express lane in life can tell you stories about growing up a minority in America, or tales their parents or grandparents have told.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
14 May 2026
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The theory of quantum electrodynamics (QED) suggests that when light at extremely high intensities interacts with the vacuum, it can be converted into matter.—
Ameya Paleja,
Interesting Engineering,
14 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overly. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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