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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

overthink en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- Proto-Indo-European *teng-der. Proto-Germanic *þankijaną Proto-West Germanic *þankijan Old English þenċan Middle English thinken English think English overthink From over- + think.

Meanings

  1. To think or analyze too much.
    • Don't overthink the problem. It's not that difficult.
    • Mr. Trump “thinks about it as just like whatever entertains him, but as he’s doing that, he’s bringing people together,’” Mr. Ceraso said in a phone interview on Sunday before the event. Democrats, he added, should “stop trying to overthink it.” 2026 June 14, Bayliss Wagner, “Trump’s U.F.C. Event Comes as Backing of Young Men, Once a Strength, Wanes”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  2. (rare) To think too highly (of); overestimate
    • So to think of self as not to overthink — to think of yourself with sober, moral judgment. 1859, Henry Ward Beecher, Sermons, page 25:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
overthinking Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overthought Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overthought Tense=Past lexicographic
overthinks Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Antonyms

underthink · understate · misunderestimate · underjudge · underrate · sell short · underguess · underestimate · underreckon · understate · underapproximate

Deriveds

overthinker

Descendants

overthinklemek

Synonyms

overestimate · overapproximate · overapproximate · overrate · overreckon · overstate · overhold · overstate · overthink

Translations (20)

cmn 想太多 (to think or analyze too much) · ca pensar[-lo] massa (to think or analyze too much) · ca pensar massa (to think or analyze too much) · hu túlagyal (to think or analyze too much) · id lajak pikir (to think or analyze too much) · es pensar(lo) demasiado / demasiadamente (to think or analyze too much) · hu túl sokat gondolkodik/agyal/filozofál (to think or analyze too much) · es pensar(se / lo) / pensárselo dos veces (to think or analyze too much) · fi ylimiettiä (to think or analyze too much) · id pikir berlebih (to think or analyze too much) · id terus memikirkan (to think (sth) over) · de zerdenken (to think or analyze too much) · fr surpenser (to think or analyze too much) · el πολυσκέφτομαι (to think or analyze too much) · es pensar(lo) de más (to think or analyze too much) · fr surréfléchir (to think or analyze too much) · de abwägen (to think (sth) over) · de überlegen (to think (sth) over) · fi yliajatella (to think or analyze too much) · de überdenken (to think (sth) over)

overthink en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Middle English *overthenken, *overthenchen (compare Middle English overthinken (“to grieve; have regrets; be sorry; be anxious”)), from Old English oferþenċan (“to think over; consider”), equivalent to over- + think.

Meanings

  1. (archaic) To think about; think over
    • But when I dred that wou'd not work, I overthought me of a Wile How I might at my leisure lurk, My graceless Guardain to beguile. 1695, J.D. Albany, The Banishment of poverty:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
overthinking Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overthought Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overthought Tense=Past lexicographic
overthinks Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Synonyms

contemplate · second-guess · reconsider · call to mind · introspect · bethink · overthink · ruminate · chew the cud · mull · chew · afterthink · ponder · think · chew over · reflect · cogitate · quander · think over · bethink · quander · mull over · rethink · meditate · revolve · agitate · muse · deliberate · mull · consider