Word of the Day

: December 19, 2023

overweening

adjective oh-ver-WEE-ning

What It Means

To describe someone as overweening is to say that they are arrogant and unduly proud. Overweening also disapprovingly describes qualities or desires, such as greed or ambition, that are seen as excessive.

// It’s hard for people to believe every word in speeches by overweening politicians.

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overweening in Context

“Most people in recovery take extensive inventories without professional help, though a skilled professional can often help scrape away remnants of denial and search more deeply for underlying features of many defects, such as hidden insecurities powering a person’s overweening pride.” — Timmen L. Cermak, Psychology Today, 6 Sept. 2023

Did You Know?

“The overweening conceit which the greater part of men have of their own abilities is an ancient evil remarked by the philosophers and moralists of all ages.” So wrote the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. But while overweening conceit might be an age-old evil, the word overweening is of 14th century vintage. It developed from a form of the Middle English verb overwenen, meaning “to be arrogant.” That term built on wenen, meaning “to think” or “to suppose.” Today, the adjective overweening is the most widely used of the wenen descendants, but historical texts also occasionally include the verb overween, meaning “to think too highly of one’s own opinion.” It was also possible at one time to ween just enough, without overdoing it. All things in moderation—even self-esteem—after all.