noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The state or quality of being overextended; extension beyond normal, correct, or appropriate bounds or limits. countable, uncountable

   "Other nations sensed American overextension."

2. 2
   Application of a term to too many referents, as for example when a child uses cat to refer to all animals. countable, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

bloatbloatingbreaking pointdistensionextreme tensionfranticness

Example

More examples

"Other nations sensed American overextension."

Etymology

From over- + extension.

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