How to Use overweening in a Sentence
overweening
adjective-
That does not just mean the overweening clout of the tech titan or the oil baron.
—The Economist, 10 May 2018
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That book in turn became the companion of some of the world’s most overweening leaders.
—The Economist, 29 June 2019
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Where Chappaquiddick succeeds is in showing the overweening nature of the Kennedy myth—no one is more sick of the Kennedys than Ted, who longs to escape his fate.
—Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 30 Apr. 2018
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There is no answer to the overweening question of why the disaster happened.
—Lisa Levy, New Republic, 9 Oct. 2017
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Racial bias and the overweening influence of money were cited by the pro-democracy think tank as part of the reason for the decline.
—Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2021
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Its weakness is in its overweening trust of the photograph as a faithful reporter.
—Charles Desmarais, SFChronicle.com, 22 June 2018
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What is remarkable about these pieces isn’t their bravery in the face of an overweening majority.
—Sarah Jones, New Republic, 17 Jan. 2018
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This diminution of news might be a way for Facebook to walk away from the public sphere—or, at least, appear to walk away—at a time when it has been taken to task for its overweening influence there.
—Eric Klinenberg, The New York Review of Books, 18 Apr. 2019
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The biggest of these is the sheer overweening dependence of many of its members on their favorite commodity.
—Washington Post, 2 July 2019
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This is one sick twist of a tryst, with the two forming a strange — and ultimately tiresome — double helix of sadomasochistic desire and overweening ego.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2023
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The only development has been the placement of a wooden plank in the ground, creating a fence that is as narrow as the property and as overweening as the reach of property rights in New York City.
—Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 24 June 2022
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In mounting the expedition, the Major was no doubt motivated by the sheer challenge—or, as his critics would say, by an overweening drive for glory.
—Gerard Helferich, WSJ, 19 July 2018
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What Buñuel and a few others spotted was that for all its overweening gigantism, Guernica is essentially a piece of kitsch.
—John Banville, The New Republic, 16 Nov. 2021
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But there’s no real idea of the character beyond an overweening shamelessness.
—New York Times, 12 Apr. 2022
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Public sentiment does not rest with the oligarchs, whom many in both parties see as an overweening threat to competition and privacy.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 3 Oct. 2021
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Going to Chicken & Biscuits does feel like being fed by loving but overweening relatives.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 11 Oct. 2021
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Two decades ago, the Twin Towers were attacked because they were seen as emblems of capitalist arrogance; the complex that replaced them is a monument to overweening caution.
—Justin Davidson, Curbed, 31 Aug. 2021
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And there was, of course, the overweening cruelty that was his hallmark: mocking people with disabilities, taunting his opponents, ridiculing a Gold Star mom.
—Cindi Leive, Glamour, 16 Jan. 2018
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The resulting flood of revenue allows owners to consistently lure top talent, but, in return, breeds overweening expectations in fans — who can be merciless when players fail to live up to the hype.
—BostonGlobe.com, 14 Dec. 2017
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Ethnic groups with grievances towards an overweening army and state live in overlapping territories.
—The Economist, 29 Aug. 2019
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And their overweening instinct for self-promotion inevitably has interlocked them with the two great mechanisms for lifting the American dream into the heavens—popular media and the military.
—David Beers, The New Republic, 7 Dec. 2020
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There’s no serious likelihood that the behavior of these global behemoths will be crimped by these scoldings from some overweening Senate committee.
—Bruce Sterling, WIRED, 16 Feb. 2012
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The task is to manage the dangerous interactions between a fearful political class and an overweening medical class.
—Joseph C. Sternberg, WSJ, 8 Apr. 2021
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The Big Short was his overweening, unintelligible reaction to the 2008 recession.
—Armond White, National Review, 12 Jan. 2022
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The case for the prosecution has been her snobbery, self-absorption, humorlessness, conservatism and overweening privilege.
—New York Times, 23 Dec. 2021
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Pedro Pascal imbues Max Lord with a vulnerability that makes his overweening desire for more—money, power, fame, influence—almost tragic; his wish drains him of health and vitality, and also threatens his young son.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 25 Dec. 2020
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At the federal level, the Justices have been active in striking down overweening regulations on political expression.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2022
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The biggest concern in Beijing, and what could ignite a new round of Chinese preparedness, is its perpetual paranoia combined with overweening ambition to be considered a major power, especially in its own backyard.
—David A. Andelman, CNN, 24 May 2022
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Critics of the regime in Tehran say the exercise is hardly democratic, given the overweening power of the country's theocratic supreme leader and its influential military institutions like the Revolutionary Guard.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 22 May 2017
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Orban’s antics help polarize the conversation within his country, turning the opposition into would-be abettors of overweening foreign technocrats.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overweening.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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