Word.ws English Dictionary

overextension

overextension noun: the state or quality of being overextended; extension beyond normal, correct, or appropriate bounds or limits.

Noun

overextension (countable and uncountable, plural overextensions)

  1. The state or quality of being overextended; extension beyond normal, correct, or appropriate bounds or limits.
    • Other nations sensed American overextension.2009 February 13, David Brooks, “The Worst-Case Scenario”, in New York Times
  2. Application of a term to too many referents, as for example when a child uses cat to refer to all animals.

Forms of overextension

pluraloverextensions

Origin of overextension

From over- + extension.

Questions about overextension

What does overextension mean?
Overextension means the state or quality of being overextended; extension beyond normal, correct, or appropriate bounds or limits.
What part of speech is overextension?
Overextension is a noun.
What is the plural of overextension?
The plural of overextension is overextensions.

Words near overextension in the dictionary

  1. overextended
  2. overextender
  3. overextenders
  4. overextending
  5. overextends
  6. overextension
  7. overextensions
  8. overextensive
  9. overextention
  10. overextraction
  11. overextractions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: overextension (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “overextension.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overextension. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.