overdefine

present singular third person overdefines · participle present overdefining · participle past overdefined · past overdefined

1. transitiveTo define too rigidly, or in too much depth.

   The adolescent search for a new and a reliable identity can perhaps best be seen in the persistent endeavor to define, to overdefine, and to redefine oneself and each other in often ruthless comparison […]

   2011, Walter N. King, Hamlet's Search for Meaning, page 133

   1 more example

   Most students want to overdefine every flower and leaf. In the assignment above, I spoke of “the essence of flowers.” If you overdefine and explain every petal, you will lose the sense of softness and mystery.

   2001, Charles Reid, Painting Flowers in Watercolor with Charles Reid