Overlight

//ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈlaɪt// adj, noun, verb

adj, noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    excessive light countable, uncountable

    "An overlight maketh the eyes dazzle, insomuch as perpetual looking against the ſun would cause blindness."

Verb
  1. 1
    To illuminate too brightly. transitive

    "Dozens of times over the next two years, Officer Yan’s work brought him through the sliding glass doors into the overlit clamor of Kings County’s emergency room, one of the busiest in the city."

  2. 2
    To illuminate from above. transitive

    "Thus the stereotype is overlighted by the archetype, just as in conventional Egyptian statuary the historical pharoah is often shown standing under the god, the wings of Horus."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Too light or frivolous; giddy. dated

    "Also that they be not overlight and wanton of behaviour."

Synonyms

All synonyms

Example

More examples

"Dozens of times over the next two years, Officer Yan’s work brought him through the sliding glass doors into the overlit clamor of Kings County’s emergency room, one of the busiest in the city."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From over- + light.

Etymology 2

From Middle English over-lyght, equivalent to over- + light.

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