Overdriven

adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Driven too hard, or beyond normal limits; exhausted.

    "Intertwining, staccato rhythmic patterns by overdriven guitars and basses — the kind of thing that makes rock critics say “angular” in their sleep — used to be merely a sign of semi-competence; now it’s a trademark post-punk device with 30 years of formidable history."

Example

More examples

"And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should cause to be overdriven, in one day all the flocks will die."

Etymology

From over- + driven.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.