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
Phillip Moffitt
overabundant
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
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
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
R. V. Denenberg
… Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, an overabundantly plotted melodrama set in 15th-century Paris.
—Tom Gliatto
Tom Gliatto
Examples of overabundance in a Sentence
an overabundance of desserts at a potluck dinner
Recent Examples on the Web
Protects Against Oxidative Stress and Inflammation Oxidative stress is caused by an overabundance of free radicals (unstable molecules made during normal cell metabolism).
—Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 18 Feb. 2025
The potential culprit: an overabundance of certain omega-6 fatty acids — perhaps from ultraprocessed foods in your diet — that may hinder the anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties of another essential fatty acid, omega-3.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024
But the seeming overabundance of reionizing light is a clear sign that something is missing in our picture of the early universe.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Jan. 2025
An overabundance of planets would seem to dilute the term itself, so most space scientists stand firm at either eight or nine.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overabundance
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Angelica Bottaro, Verywell Health, 18 Feb. 2025
The potential culprit: an overabundance of certain omega-6 fatty acids — perhaps from ultraprocessed foods in your diet — that may hinder the anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties of another essential fatty acid, omega-3.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024
But the seeming overabundance of reionizing light is a clear sign that something is missing in our picture of the early universe.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 30 Jan. 2025
An overabundance of planets would seem to dilute the term itself, so most space scientists stand firm at either eight or nine.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overabundance
Cite this Entry
“Overabundance.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overabundance. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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