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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Recent Examples of overly
For one, a team could be penalized for being overly aggressive in pursuit of a desperation comeback late in a contest and seeing an 11-point loss turn into a 16-point defeat, though that sounds more like the actions of a non-lottery team, anyway.
—
Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 4 Apr. 2026
Milwaukee wasn’t overly aggressive, as hitters waited patiently for Avila to find the strike zone.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2026
Be careful in your approach, then, but not overly cautious either.
—Matt Richardson, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
Laina Morris, for instance, has tried to move on from the image of her grinning, bug-eyed face that became a popular meme portraying her as an overly protective and clingy girlfriend.
—Ben Pettis, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for overly
Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 4 Apr. 2026
Milwaukee wasn’t overly aggressive, as hitters waited patiently for Avila to find the strike zone.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2026
Be careful in your approach, then, but not overly cautious either.
—Matt Richardson, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
Laina Morris, for instance, has tried to move on from the image of her grinning, bug-eyed face that became a popular meme portraying her as an overly protective and clingy girlfriend.
—Ben Pettis, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for overly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overly
Adverb
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Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin, cautioned against reading too much into Tuesday’s results.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
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The Royals’ offense had its early-season frustrations a year ago before turning it on after the All-Star break — albeit too late to make a playoff run.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
9 Apr. 2026
Adverb
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The former dictates an excessively politicized life, the latter an effort to escape from the political.—
Bradley Gitz,
Arkansas Online,
23 Mar. 2026
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Members of both parties have criticized the Justice Department's handling of the files' release, arguing that some files were inappropriately withheld or excessively redacted.—
Joe Walsh,
CBS News,
19 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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This is not to say that the artist herself, and her band, were as quiet as church mice, or that there was anything unduly precious about the performance.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
6 Apr. 2026
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Support for the plan generally came from industry and regulatory reform groups who said the vehicle standards that rest on the endangerment finding are costly and unduly burdensome.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Even if well-intentioned, this kind of unsolicited feedback can be extremely frustrating and even hurtful.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
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After the family moved to America, Crockett was diagnosed with the extremely rare syndactyly-telecanthus-anogenital and renal malformations syndrome, or STAR syndrome, which impacts different parts of the body.—
Megan Vaz,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overly. Accessed 10 Apr. 2026.
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