overwork

[ verb oh-ver-wurk; noun oh-ver-wurk ]

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to work too hard, too much, or too long; weary or exhaust with work (often used reflexively):

   Don't overwork yourself on that new job.

2. to work up, stir up, or excite excessively:

   to overwork a mob to the verge of frenzy.

3. to employ or elaborate to excess:

   an appeal for sympathy that has been overworked by many speakers.

4. to work or decorate all over; decorate the surface of:

   white limestone overworked with inscriptions.

verb (used without object)

1. to work too hard, too much, or too long; work to excess:

   You look as though you've been overworking.

noun

1. work beyond one's strength or capacity.
2. extra or excessive work.

overwork

verb

1. also intr to work or cause to work too hard or too long
2. to use too much

   to overwork an excuse

3. to decorate the surface of
4. to work up

noun

1. excessive or excessively tiring work

Derived Forms

• ˌoverˈworked, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of overwork¹

before 1000; Old English oferwyrcan. See over-, work

Example Sentences

Today’s work schedules, with their combination of “overwork and then no work,” in many ways mirror the conditions that preceded the reforms of the 1930s, Loomis said.

From Vox

Despite stress, depression, and overwork, women still want to work from home.

From Vox

One delivery driver recently set himself on fire to protest unpaid wages while at least one other collapsed and died from apparent overwork.

From Time

One employee claims he was fired for raising concerns about overwork.

From Time

This should cover everything from the furniture and equipment being used, to factors such as isolation, overwork and a failure to take proper breaks.

From Digiday

By then she had only three years to live, and was becoming frail from overwork.

From The Daily Beast

Chronic starvation, overwork, disease, and freezing temperatures were as effective as the bullet, only slower and crueler.

From The Daily Beast

Dickens died young, at 58, worn out from overwork, from the sheer strain of being himself.

From The Daily Beast

This is a very dark frame of mind, consequent on overwork and the conclusion of the excruciating Ebb Tide.

From Project Gutenberg

Thyrsis came home beaten and crushed, worn out with overwork and worry, his heart black with rage and bitterness and despair.

From Project Gutenberg

It is much more probable that one of the bridges has broken through overwork.

From Project Gutenberg

Their lives are a lesson to a generation that fears intellectual overwork.

From Project Gutenberg

And we cannot all escape overwork however valiantly we fight our battle with non-essentials.

From Project Gutenberg