as in protective
trying too hard to protect someone (such as a child) from danger
His overprotective mother won't let him go out after dark. He is overprotective of his little sister.
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Recent Examples of overprotective
After everything the children had gone through, their grandparents may have been a little overprotective.
—
Libby Smith, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Wright plays the overprotective mother Laura Sanderson in the Amazon Prime series, The Girlfriend, who spirals when her son Daniel (Laurie Davidson) brings home his new mysterious girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke).
—Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Season 3 As Season 3 begins, Eleven and Mike are officially a couple and can't keep their hands off each other, upsetting an overprotective Hopper, who tries to break them up.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 19 Nov. 2025
In Seasons 2 and 3, Eleven and Hopper experience some friction due to Hopper’s overprotective concern for Eleven’s safety; by Season 4, the characters operate in totally separate storylines and don’t share a scene until the last minutes of the season finale.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 8 Nov. 2025
Wagner apologizes, knowing that his relationship with his baby, who is now 27 years old, is too important to throw away by being overprotective of her (or of his work-daughter Kaya).
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Burghardt wrote the script for the movie, which World Of Reel previously revealed will tell the story of a young woman on the autism spectrum who breaks free from her overprotective but loving mother in search of freedom, friendship, and a little chaos in the summer after high school graduation.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
Chaban stayed at Elite for four years and built a name for himself as being tough and overprotective of his models.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2025
These 2025 Best of Beauty Award winners offer all the overprotective pros without any aggravating cons.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Libby Smith, CBS News, 28 Jan. 2026
Wright plays the overprotective mother Laura Sanderson in the Amazon Prime series, The Girlfriend, who spirals when her son Daniel (Laurie Davidson) brings home his new mysterious girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke).
—Brenton Blanchet, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Season 3 As Season 3 begins, Eleven and Mike are officially a couple and can't keep their hands off each other, upsetting an overprotective Hopper, who tries to break them up.
—Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 19 Nov. 2025
In Seasons 2 and 3, Eleven and Hopper experience some friction due to Hopper’s overprotective concern for Eleven’s safety; by Season 4, the characters operate in totally separate storylines and don’t share a scene until the last minutes of the season finale.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 8 Nov. 2025
Wagner apologizes, knowing that his relationship with his baby, who is now 27 years old, is too important to throw away by being overprotective of her (or of his work-daughter Kaya).
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 31 Oct. 2025
Burghardt wrote the script for the movie, which World Of Reel previously revealed will tell the story of a young woman on the autism spectrum who breaks free from her overprotective but loving mother in search of freedom, friendship, and a little chaos in the summer after high school graduation.
—Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2025
Chaban stayed at Elite for four years and built a name for himself as being tough and overprotective of his models.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2025
These 2025 Best of Beauty Award winners offer all the overprotective pros without any aggravating cons.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overprotective
Adjective
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The administration’s framing of the deadly shootings in Minneapolis was part of the motivation for the request to modify the protective order in the case and release the evidence, said Parente.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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Consumer electronics researchers are designing self-healing polymers for flexible displays and scratch-prone protective surfaces.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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After a night of a drinking game gone very wrong, Bree is left behind by a possessive Evan, giving Wrigley and Bree alone time to hash out their unspoken feelings for each other.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Feb. 2026
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What readers are saying The comments largely focus on the need for the boyfriend to set boundaries with his sister, who exhibits possessive and inappropriate behavior.—
Carolyn Hax,
Washington Post,
10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Ergonomic and more inherently cooling than memory foam, the luxury home buy can last you a lifetime — one marked by the kind of sleep that can make any insomniac jealous.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
6 Feb. 2026
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How can anybody be that jealous and what causes it?—
Tribune Content Agency,
Baltimore Sun,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overprotective.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overprotective. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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