too much of a good thing

phrase

Something enjoyable or beneficial which, nevertheless, becomes bothersome or harmful in large quantities or over an extended period of time.

Similar
embarrassment of richestoujours perdrix
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Meanings

phrase
  1. Something enjoyable or beneficial which, nevertheless, becomes bothersome or harmful in large quantities or over an extended period of time.

    "That you won't either," said Muriel, "Two's company; seven's too much of a good thing."

    c. 1922, D. H. Lawrence, “Tickets, Please”, in England, My England
    3 more examples

    "If I must say what I think," continued Mr. Rushworth, "in my opinion it is very disagreeable to be always rehearsing. It is having too much of a good thing. I am not so fond of acting as I was at first.[…]"

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter I, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 26

    "I like a woman with spirit," said Cradell. / "Oh, so do I. But one may have too much of a good thing."

    1864, Anthony Trollope, chapter IV, in The Small House at Allington

    Household chemicals are about as personal as modern science gets. We are surrounded by hundreds of them every day — they're in our furnishings, our cosmetics, our vinyl floor tiles and plastic baby bottles. […] Are they too much of a good thing?

    2003 July 20, James Geary, “Risky business”, in Time

    Synonyms: embarrassment of riches, toujours perdrix

Synonyms & antonyms

phraseSomething enjoyable or beneficial which, nevertheless, becomes bothersome or harmful in large quantities or over an extended period of time.

Similar
embarrassment of richestoujours perdrix

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 好的東西太多了也會厭倦 /好的东西太多了也会厌倦
  • 好的東西太多了也會厭倦 /好的东西太多了也会厌倦 (hǎo de dōngxi tài duō le yě huì yànjuàn)Translations
Dutch te veel van het goede
  • te veel van het goedeTranslations
Finnish liian paljon hyvää
  • liian paljon hyvääTranslations
German zuviel des Guten, des Guten zu viel
  • zuviel des GutenTranslations
  • des Guten zu vielTranslations
Hungarian jóból is megárt a sok
  • jóból is megárt a sokTranslations
Irish is maith an tsáith an mheasarthacht
  • is maith an tsáith an mheasarthachtTranslations
Japanese 過ぎたるは猶及ばざるがごとし
  • 過ぎたるは猶及ばざるがごとし (sugitaru wa nao oyobazaru ga gotoshi)Translations
Polish za dużo dobrego, co za dużo, to niezdrowo
  • za dużo dobregoTranslations
  • co za dużo, to niezdrowoTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

too much of a good thing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20much%20of%20a%20good%20thing

MLA

“too much of a good thing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20much%20of%20a%20good%20thing. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “too much of a good thing,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/too%20much%20of%20a%20good%20thing.

Source: too much of a good thing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.