overboldness en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /əʊvəˈbəʊldnəs/ (UK)
Etymology
From Middle English overboldnesse, equivalent to over- + boldness, after overbold.
Meanings
-
(uncountable) The state or fact of being too bold; audacity.
nothing did him so much good toward the people (to whom he appealed) to make him obtain his suite, as the sharpnes and over boldnes which Cæsar had declared in that judgement.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 31, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:Contrary to accepted wisdom, the qualities usually thought of as entrepreneurial - risk-taking, breakthrough creativity, foresight, grand ambition, power and administrative abilities - are all secondary. Indeed, over-boldness may be a handicap.
1999 December 19, Simon Caulkin, The Observer: