o·ver·ween·ing

(ō′vər-wē′nĭng)

adj.

1. Presumptuously arrogant; overbearing: had a witty but overweening manner about him.

2. Excessive; immoderate: overweening ambition.

o′ver·ween′ing·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

overweening

(ˌəʊvəˈwiːnɪŋ)

adj

1. (of a person) excessively arrogant or presumptuous

2. (of opinions, appetites, etc) excessive; immoderate

[C14: over- + weening, from Old English wēnan: see ween]

ˌoverˈweeningly adv

ˌoverˈweeningness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

o•ver•ween•ing

(ˈoʊ vərˈwi nɪŋ)

adj.

1. presumptuously conceited, overconfident, or proud.

2. exaggerated; excessive: overweening pride.

[1300–50; Middle English overweninde, probably as a calque of Old French surcuidant; see over-, ween]

o′ver•ween′ing•ly, adv.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	overweening - unrestrained, especially with regard to feelings; "extravagant praise"; "exuberant compliments"; "overweening ambition"; "overweening greed" extravagant, exuberant, excessive unrestrained - not subject to restraint; "unrestrained laughter"
	2.	overweening - presumptuously arrogant; "had a witty but overweening manner"; "no idea how overweening he would be"- S.V.Benet; "getting a little uppity and needed to be slapped down"- NY Times uppity immodest - having or showing an exaggerated opinion of your importance, ability, etc; "brash immodest boasting"

overweening

adjective

1. arrogant, lordly, proud, vain, swaggering, pompous, cocky, conceited, blustering, imperious, self-confident, overbearing, haughty, opinionated, egotistical, disdainful, presumptuous, high-handed, insolent, supercilious, high and mighty (informal), cocksure, vainglorious, uppish (Brit. informal) his overweening arrogance and pride
arrogant modest, timid, self-conscious, hesitant, unassuming, unobtrusive, self-effacing, diffident, deferential

2. excessive, exaggerated, over the top (slang), extravagant, disproportionate, inordinate, intemperate, immoderate, blown up out of all proportion, O.T.T. (slang) her overweening admiration of her father

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

overweening

adjective

Overly convinced of one's own superiority and importance:

arrogant, haughty, high-and-mighty, insolent, lofty, lordly, overbearing, prideful, proud, supercilious, superior.

Idiom: on one's high horse.

Translations

arrogante

overweening

[ˌəʊvəˈwiːnɪŋ] ADJ → arrogante, presuntuoso, altivo
overweening pride → desmesurado orgullo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

overweening

adj → überheblich, anmaßend; arrogance, pride, ambition → maßlos

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

overweening

[ˌəʊvəˈwiːnɪŋ] adj (frm, pej) (pride, arrogance, ambition, self-confidence) → smodato/a, eccessivo/a, smisurato/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

He might have learnt Less overweening, since he failed in Job, Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.

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"It may be all right, sir, but I have no overweening reliance on the faith of these marquesses, or marquis, as they call themselves.

View in context

Some take the broad road of overweening ambition; others that of mean and servile flattery; others that of deceitful hypocrisy, and some that of true religion; but I, led by my star, follow the narrow path of knight-errantry, and in pursuit of that calling I despise wealth, but not honour.

View in context

"Alas," replied the weeping girl, "I am obliged to own that my mother-in-law's aversion to me arises from a very natural source -- her overweening love for her own child, my brother Edward."

View in context

It will indeed be thought that I have an overweening confidence in the principle of natural selection, when I do not admit that such wonderful and well-established facts at once annihilate my theory.

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But for thee I had persisted happie, had not thy pride And wandring vanitie, when lest was safe, Rejected my forewarning, and disdain'd Not to be trusted, longing to be seen Though by the Devil himself, him overweening To over-reach, but with the Serpent meeting Fool'd and beguil'd, by him thou, I by thee, To trust thee from my side, imagin'd wise, Constant, mature, proof against all assaults, And understood not all was but a shew Rather then solid vertu, all but a Rib Crooked by nature, bent, as now appears, More to the part sinister from me drawn, Well if thrown out, as supernumerarie To my just number found.

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Some pretended that it was due to overweening pride; others spoke of her heavenly modesty.

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It's galling too, of course, for a young man of gifts and overweening pride to know that if he had, for instance, a paltry three thousand, his whole career, his whole future would be differently shaped and yet not to have that three thousand.

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He had not been that way since the day of his examination--the finest day of his life--the day of his overweening pride.

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O father Jove, you, who they say art above all, both gods and men, in wisdom, and from whom all things that befall us do proceed, how can you thus favour the Trojans--men so proud and overweening, that they are never tired of fighting?

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He had no objection to honey, he said (and I should think he had not, for he seemed to like it), but he protested against the overweening assumptions of bees.

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If a councillor's doing a bad job, let the people decide, not their overweening political opponents.

Politics needs dissenters