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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

overwork en · VERB · etymology 1

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˌəʊvəˈwɜːk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • ō'vər-wûrkʹ (Canada, General-American)
  • /ˌoʊvɚˈwɝk/ (Canada, General-American)
  • ō'və-wûkʹ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English overwerken, possibly from Old English oferwyrċan (“to overwork, overlay”), equivalent to over- + work. Cognate with Dutch overwerken (“to overwork”).

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To make (someone or something) work too hard.
    • The cracking sound, he explained, as far as I, a non-plumber, could understand, was the sound of the overworked, undermaintained and weirdly installed heating unit’s core rupturing and spilling water into the basement. 2007 February 18, Jake Mooney, “A Case of the Shivers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022:
    • For some years locomotives and coaches have been overworked and undermaintained to a degree without precedent in British railway history, and the leeway in maintenance now to be made up is very great. 1945 November snd December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 329:
    • It turns out that overworking your brain with either physical or mental exercise may lower your ability to delay self-gratification. 2019 September 26, Sandee LaMotte, “Too much exercise could lead to bad decisions on what you eat and buy”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Mar 2025:
    • If you live in Washington D.C., Houston or Atlanta, it might be time to take a vacation. Those three cities, followed by Seattle and Chicago, are the most overworked cities in the United States, according to a study released by the mobile technology company Kisi this past week. 2019 August 10, Harmeet Kaur, “The most overworked cities in the US might surprise you”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Aug 2020:
    • to overwork a horse
    • One of China’s most prominent e-commerce companies is facing intense public backlash over allegations that it overworks its employees. 2021 January 13, Laura He and Nectar Gan, “Pinduoduo under fire as China turns on its tech titans”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 06 Feb 2025:
  2. (intransitive) To work too hard.
  3. (transitive) To fill too full of work; to crowd with labour.
    • My days with toil are overwrought. 1874, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Aigalades:
  4. (transitive) To decorate all over.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
overworking Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overworks Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
overworked Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overworked Tense=Past lexicographic
overwrought Tense=Past archaic lexicographic
overwrought Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part archaic lexicographic

Translations (10)

ja 過労する (to work too hard) · ru перетруди́ться (to work too hard) · es sobretrabajar (to work too hard) · bg преуморявам се (to work too hard) · cs přepracovat se (to work too hard) · ru перетружда́ться (to work too hard) · de sich überarbeiten (to work too hard) · ko 과로하다 (to work too hard) · pl przepracowywać się (to work too hard) · mk преработи (to work too hard)

overwork en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

  • (Southern-England) audio
  • /ˈoʊvɚˌwɝk/ (Canada, General-American)
  • /ˈəʊvəˌwɜːk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
  • ōʹvə-wûk' (Received-Pronunciation)
  • ōʹvər-wûrk' (Canada, General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English overwerc, from Old English oferweorc, oferġeweorc (“an overwork, superstructure, tomb”), equivalent to over- + work.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) A superstructure.
  2. (uncountable) Excessive work.
    • […] it had obtained from its constituents rather antiquated and inefficient equipment, which scarcely stood up to overwork; […]. 1946 July and August, K. Westcott Jones, “Isle of Wight Central Railway—2”, in Railway Magazine, page 244:
    • In July, the government legislated to reduce the maximum working hours from a staggering 68 per week to 40, with 12 hours of paid overtime, in what President Moon Jae-in said would be an “important opportunity to move away from a society of overwork and move toward a society of spending time with families.” 2018 November 4, Jake Kwon and Alexandra Field, “South Koreans are working themselves to death. Can they get their lives back?”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Jan 2025:
    • The Japanese term for sudden death from overwork. 2003, Ernie J Zelinski, Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked:
    • Various disordered conditions consequent upon overwork, which are characteristic of modern civilisation. 1878, Phosphorus in functional disorders of the nervous system, induced by overwork and other influences incidental to modern life:
    • He says that more men are killed by overwork than the importance of this world justifies. He maintains that overwork slew Pansay who died under his hands about three years ago. 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Phantom Rickshaw”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, Allahabad: A.H. Wheeler and Co., page 8:
    • When it comes to overwork, denial looms large. 1996, Wilkie Au, Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration:

Relateds

overtime

Translations (12)

ru перегру́зка (excessive work) · pl przepracowanie (excessive work) · mk преработување (excessive work) · ja 過労 (excessive work) · bg преумора (excessive work) · fr surmenage (excessive work) · es sobretrabajo (excessive work) · ru перенапряже́ние (excessive work) · ko 과로 (excessive work) · ru переутомле́ние (excessive work) · tr sürmenaj (excessive work) · cmn 過勞 /过劳 (excessive work)