overmasterful

O1V4E1R1M3A1S1T1E1R1F4U1L1
/ˈəʊvəˈmæstɚfəl/

adjective

Overly masterful; having excessive mastery.

Scrabble 21

Meanings

adjectiveovermasterful (comparative more overmasterful, superlative most overmasterful)

comparative more overmasterful · superlative most overmasterful · alternative over-masterful

  1. rareOverly masterful; having excessive mastery.

    This is a reason why he may seem sometimes intolerant or overmasterful.

    1910, Brander Matthews, The Development of the Drama, Charles Scribner's Sons, page 31
    4 more examples

    The simple truth is that in the dreadful muddle of the French military interests, the German strategy was daringly overmasterful.

    1883, The Fortnightly Review 1883-11-01: Volume 34, Issue 203, Contemporary Review Company, page 663

    It was evident that his astonishment was great. He was a portly man, and tall, about forty years old, and, after his fashion, handsome. He had well-formed features and a mobile smile; but his face was masterful — overmasterful, some thought; and his eyes were hard, when a sly look did not soften, without much improving, their expression.

    1905, Stanley John Weyman, Starvecrow Farm, Longmans, Green, and Company, page 61

    The cold, frosty fact, seemingly not imderstood by most men, is that erratic, excitable or overmasterful women are suffering from some defect of organism, and that the women to whom the woman's programme doesn't appeal, simply have not the blood and nerve to enjoy it.

    1913, Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe, Votes for Men, Duffield, pages 14–15

    And when the bricks cease to satisfy his creative instincts — wood, hammer and nails; clay, pencil, brush and paper, are given, is good; we try to satisfy him; and both desire and capacity grow through use. But the lad is overmasterful.

    1920, Edith E. Read Mumford, The Dawn of Character, page 98

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

overmasterful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overmasterful

MLA

“overmasterful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overmasterful. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overmasterful,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overmasterful.

Source: overmasterful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.