OVERWEENING Synonyms: 227 Similar and Opposite Words

overweening

adjective

ˌō-vər-ˈwē-niŋ

as in smug

having too high an opinion of oneself a director who has little patience for overweening actors who think they are above taking advice and criticism

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Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in excessive

going beyond a normal or acceptable limit in degree or amount overweening desire for wealth and fame

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as in arrogant

having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude an overweening administrator who simply doesn't know how to manage people

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as in inflated

extended beyond normal or realistic bounds an overweening national pride that prompted its citizens to denigrate other countries

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of overweening Instead, the grande dame of hospitality was replaced by an overweening, obscenely tall, utterly out of place, speculative supertall skyscraper: the Empire State Building. —

Justin Davidson, Curbed, 10 July 2025 But an overweening chorus of voices—from legislators, media, and civilian organizations—declared that, unlike white citizens of German and Italian descent, danger lurked in Japanese American bodies. —

Literary Hub, 12 May 2025 The doctrine itself has had all manner of ill effects on the capacity of employers to apply race-neutral or gender-neutral standards of qualification and fitness, and replaced the concept of an equal opportunity employer with the overweening human resources departments that gave us DEI. —

The Editors, National Review, 25 Apr. 2025 Iraqi nationalism is the ultimate hedge against Iran’s overweening ambitions; no Iraqi wishes for his or her country to become a pawn of Iran. —

Linda S. Robinson, Foreign Affairs, 12 Aug. 2019 See All Example Sentences for overweening

Recent Examples of Synonyms for overweening

Adjective

Most smug articles and books that claim to provide quick fixes come off as tone-deaf or even counterproductive.

— Anna Holmes, The Atlantic, 27 May 2026
But the series’ central character, played by Rachel Weisz, has enough nervous, itchy, manic energy to make the show’s narrative structure feel purposely unstable rather than safely smug.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 4 May 2026