How to Use overwrought in a Sentence

overwrought

adjective
  • The witness became overwrought as she described the crime.
  • So, the ‘overwrought rhetoric about book banning has no place’ in this case.
    — Jack Greiner, The Enquirer, 21 Aug. 2022
  • Onion rings would surely tip the scales into the overwrought side of things.
    — Kenzie Bryant, Vanities, 16 June 2017
  • My genius kid will eat overwrought think pieces for breakfast!
    — Alex Baia, The New Yorker, 18 June 2021
  • On the other, there is the overwrought but far-fetched revenge for her death.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 1 June 2026
  • That’s our first cue that these inflation fears are overwrought.
    — Michael Foster, Forbes, 19 June 2021
  • The ending, which attempts to meld tragedy and pathos, struck me as overwrought.
    — Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Feb. 2018
  • The new cabin is airy, and the design never feels overwrought.
    — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 15 June 2018
  • There’s lots of talk of God and goodness; past traumas are overwrought.
    — Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2021
  • But the jump scares aren’t scary, and the story is overwrought and unfocused.
    — Dallas News, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Songs roll in one after the next like waves, and nothing about his keyboards is overwrought.
    — Marc Myers, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022
  • But removed from the battle, its grave tone and sepulchral mood feel bizarre and overwrought.
    — Stephen Kearse, Vulture, 4 Feb. 2025
  • My goal was to publish one short, impactful, overwrought piece a week.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 30 Sep. 2025
  • No word is overwrought, no phrase fraught with unearned feeling, no hand ioverplayed.
    — A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 1 Nov. 2024
  • But while the play asks big questions, its working out of the answers feels both wispy and overwrought.
    — The New Yorker, 22 May 2017
  • There’s nothing overwrought about these five minutes of music, just the raw ache of what might have been.
    — Greg Kot, chicagotribune.com, 13 July 2018
  • Or even an overwrought op-ed from a student at a small liberal arts college?
    — Ian Beacock, The New Republic, 13 July 2022
  • The whole play gets elevated to a certain pitch, but does not get overwrought.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 7 Apr. 2024
  • The situation is so overwrought in this episode.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Nothing here is overthought or overwrought, either on the plate or in the décor.
    — Providence Cicero, The Seattle Times, 22 June 2017
  • His story, which is loosely based on the death of his own mother, is not morose or overwrought.
    — Emily Zemler, Esquire, 8 Sep. 2016
  • What if this tipping points meme is a bit overwrought and not as imminent as we have been led to believe?
    — Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2013
  • The real truth is that no one should care about what reactionary, overwrought critics have to say.
    — Boston Herald Editorial Staff, Boston Herald, 5 Aug. 2025
  • Not the whole overwrought overman stuff, and not the conflation of pity and weakness.
    — Christian Wiman, Harper's magazine, 20 Jan. 2020
  • The high-octane war thriller is fun to imagine staged, but dialogue tends to be overwrought.
    — Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 2 June 2025
  • There’s a time and place, of course, for narratives to become overwrought with plot pretzels.
    — Washington Post, 1 June 2021
  • The moment feels false and overwrought in a movie that otherwise is a model of restraint.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Oct. 2024
  • There are signs that some of the handwringing over the economy may also be overwrought.
    — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 11 May 2025
  • But to argue that this is the main purpose of college athletics is overwrought.
    — Jenna Stocker, National Review, 24 Mar. 2022
  • The view of Kennedy as a vacillator is unfair and overwrought.
    — Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, 26 May 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overwrought.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: