overrefinement

[ oh-ver-ri-fahyn-muhnt ]

noun

1. excessive or unnecessary refinement.

Word History and Origins

Origin of overrefinement¹

First recorded in 1705–15; over- + refinement

Example Sentences

Out of disguise, the masked outlaw who duels with a grin and woos with ardor, morphs into blasé upper-cruster Don Diego Vega, who suffers from overrefinement and chronic fatigue.

From Washington Post

Little Fuzzy had known exactly what he wanted when he’d started making that thing, he’d kept on until it was as perfect as possible, and had stopped short of spoiling it by overrefinement.

From Project Gutenberg

The defects of this government were those of overrefinement in legislation,—the last defects to have been looked for, certainly, in the American aborigines.

From Project Gutenberg