verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To react too much or too intensely.

   "Please try not to overreact if she drives badly when she is first learning."

2. 2
   show an exaggerated response to something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

aggrandizeamplifyballyhoobuild upburlesquecaricature

Example

More examples

"Don't overreact to the bad news -- take it easy."

Etymology

From over- + react.

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