overzealous

adjective

over·​zeal·​ous ˌō-vər-ˈze-ləs How to pronounce overzealous (audio)
: too zealous : having or showing too much zeal : excessively eager, enthusiastic, or fervent
overzealous parents
overzealous workers
… another version of the overzealous monitoring that has produced kids who leave for college without ever having crossed the street by themselves.Peggy Orenstein
The village saw the orders as unwarranted interference from an overzealous state bureaucracy and promptly appealed.Joe Treen and S. Avery Brown
overzealously adverb
… has been frequently accused by its critics of acting recklessly, overzealously, and even, at times, illegally. Steve Lustgarden
overzealousness noun
Jewell was annoyed that press descriptions of him always emphasized his "overzealousness"; he considers himself a man of details. Marie Brenner

Examples of overzealous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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So many Hocus Pocus fans have started showing up during peak season that the city of just under 50,000 has had to add an extra police presence at certain filming locations in order to keep overzealous fans in check. Shannon Carlin, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2024 Avari and his wife, Margaret Walker, have been married since 1980. 09 of 10 Bernard Fox (Captain Winston Havelock) Bernard Fox portrayed the overzealous fighter pilot Captain Winston Havelock. Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 26 Oct. 2024 They were long considered outliers, places where a handful of overzealous officials liberally applied the state’s chemical endangerment law to hundreds of pregnant women. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 2 Oct. 2024 The investigation blames administrators’ lack of due diligence on their overzealous pursuit of such a transformative gift and flawed understanding of private stock donations. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 8 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for overzealous 

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1628, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of overzealous was circa 1628

Dictionary Entries Near overzealous

Cite this Entry

“Overzealous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overzealous. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.

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