overabundance

noun

over·​abun·​dance ˌō-vər-ə-ˈbən-dən(t)s 

plural overabundances

: a large surplus : excess

an overabundance of options

Between the women's movement and the first large wave of baby boomers, the career track was suddenly clogged with an overabundance of qualified people.

—Phillip Moffitt

overabundant

ˌō-vər-ə-ˈbən-dənt 

adjective

Overabundant use of livestock and chicken feed laced with antibiotics is a primary force behind the evolution of drug-resistant strains that then find their way into people.

—Wayne Biddle

Overabundant elk ate trees down to their nubs, leaving beavers with no lumber for their dams, which, in turn, changed the flow of rivers.

—Sara Reardon

overabundantly adverb

The meals … were mainly taken at the hotel and were included in the trip package. We were fed overabundantly three times a day.

—R. V. Denenberg

… Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, an overabundantly plotted melodrama set in 15th-century Paris.

—Tom Gliatto

Synonyms

• bellyful
• excess
• fat
• overage
• overflow
• overkill
• overmuch
• overplus
• oversupply
• plethora
• plus
• redundancy
• superabundance
• superfluity
• surfeit
• surplus
• surplusage

Examples of overabundance in a Sentence

an overabundance of desserts at a potluck dinner

Recent Examples on the Web

The realty agents claimed their office colleagues have an overabundance of homebuyers for a home in their neighborhood with their schools. —Pat Kapowich, The Mercury News, 11 May 2024

Still, some people’s immune systems are just more sensitive to an overabundance of it, leading to redness, itching, and flaking, says Joshua Zeichner, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai. —April Benshosan, Verywell Health, 9 May 2024

Thanks to an overabundance of 4500-plus federal crimes and 400,000 plus rules and regulations, it’s estimated that the average American actually commits three felonies a day without knowing it. —Nisha Whitehead, Orange County Register, 7 May 2024

Though today, salt is much maligned due to its presence, and overabundance, in many foods, human beings do need a certain amount of it for a healthy lifestyle. —Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2024

The overabundance of nutrients can starve aquatic life of oxygen, said Kelly McGinnis, executive director of the Mississippi River Network. —Eric Schmid, Journal Sentinel, 6 May 2024

If the overabundance of root vegetables like sunchokes, black radishes and kohlrabies the size of my head is the late-winter scourge of my C.S.A., the steady supply of braising greens is its redemption. —Melissa Clark, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024

That overabundance of bacteria wreaks havoc on the host deer’s hide. —Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 29 Feb. 2024

Giving an overabundance of something for nothing financial earned five attorneys from the Florida Keys to Palm Beach, three South Florida judges and a Hollywood law firm laudatory notice at The Florida Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 27 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above