How to use overwork in a sentence

29 example sentences · verb, noun

Overwork means to make (someone or something) work too hard. Example: “Overworked and underpaid? Then quit your job and become a pro darts player.”

Examples of overwork by meaning

verbTo make (someone or something) work too hard.

to overwork a horse
For some years locomotives and coaches have been overworked and undermaintained to a degree without precedent in British railway history, and the leeway in maintenance now to be made up is very great.1945 November snd December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 329
The cracking sound, he explained, as far as I, a non-plumber, could understand, was the sound of the overworked, undermaintained and weirdly installed heating unit’s core rupturing and spilling water into the basement.2007 February 18, Jake Mooney, “A Case of the Shivers”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 26 Nov 2022

nounExcessive work.

When it comes to overwork, denial looms large.1996, Wilkie Au, Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration
The Japanese term for sudden death from overwork.2003, Ernie J Zelinski, Joy of Not Working: A Book for the Retired, Unemployed, and Overworked

More sentences with overwork

Overworked and underpaid? Then quit your job and become a pro darts player.From the entry overworked
Aspirin may help the achiness of my muscles from overworking.From the entry achiness
Sue made herself ill through overwork.From the entry ill
Karoshi, a Japanese word that literally translates as "overwork death," is known as sudden occupational mortality.2022 July 12, Dwayne J. Clark, “KAROSHI CULTURE: A WARNING TO WORKAHOLICS”, in Dwayne J. Clark, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2023. From the entry guolaosi
Our experience of time isn’t just different because we are fearful or bored, cooped up or overworked.2020 May 8, Arielle Pardes, “There Are No Hours or Days in Coronatime”, in Wired, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2023. From the entry coronatime
Suddenly, you get a disconcerting attack of ponophobia, the dread of overworking or of pain.2006, Des Kennedy, The Passionate Gardener: Adventures of an Ardent Green Thumb, Greystone Books - Douglas & McIntyre Publishing Group -…. From the entry ponophobia
He admits his first attempts were overworked and overspelled, "as though a chicken had walked over them."1973, Robert Wakefield, Schwiering and the West, page 32. From the entry overspell
Insufficient defrosting causes electricity waste by overworking the cabinet and also results in high temperatures.1962, The Sanitarian, volume 71, page 132, column 2. From the entry defrosting
He champed on one of his own and said, “You must be overworked.1951, Isaac Asimov, Foundation (1974 Panther Books Ltd publication), part V: “The Merchant Princes”, chapter 13, page 166, ¶ 18. From the entry champ
“There’s nothing lazy about expecting a job that pays you well, gives you good work-life balance and doesn’t overwork you.2023 August 1, Angela Yang, quoting Gabrielle Judge, “‘Lazy girl jobs’ are trending in rally against burnout culture”, in NBC News. From the entry lazy girl job
One of China’s most prominent e-commerce companies is facing intense public backlash over allegations that it overworks its employees.2021 January 13, Laura He and Nectar Gan, “Pinduoduo under fire as China turns on its tech titans”, in CNN. From the entry e-commerce
If it was an overworked phrase before Frozen, it’s now hard to use the expression without a shudder.2015 January 18, Mariella Frostrup, “I don’t know how to move on from my first boyfriend”, in The Guardian, →ISSN. From the entry overworked
In Japan there is a word for the consequences of extreme busyness: karoshi, which means 'death from overwork'.2008, Tony Crabbe, Busy, Preface, at page xi. From the entry karoshi
Thought is habitually "structuralist," if one can be allowed to employ an overworked term which has therefore become almost useless.1989, Leszek Kolakowski, The Presence of Myth, University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, pages 61-62. From the entry hyperexistence
He’s parodied often for his overwork of masculinity, of adjectives like “good,” “wonderful,” and “clear,” and of short sentences.1977, Charles Veley, Catching Up, Lippincott, →ISBN, page 196. From the entry superthorough
Moreover, the problem was accentuated by the overworking of the assets of the railways in the second world war.1955 March, “Modernisation and Re-Equipment of British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 171. From the entry overworking
Outside it resembled a brick barn, inside a marble palace, and its ministration overworked a vicar and two enthusiastic curates.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards…. From the entry ministration
These young women are busy, for goodness' sake, tired and overworked, stressed, trying to find time for themselves in days that have too little.2017 May 14, Susan Estrich, “Mothers and memories”, in The Exponent Telegram. From the entry for goodness' sake
Despite Japan's well deserved reputation for high quality export products, its economic system misallocates factors, under-produces, overworks, misdistributes and mistransfers goods and services.2013, Steven Rosefielde, Asian Economic Systems, page 182. From the entry misallocate
'Give me a buzz when you think you can squeeze me in between English lit and the pinball championships and the gruellings of overwork, OK?'2005, Dai Vaughan, Non-return, →ISBN, page 81. From the entry gruelling
By failing to name the agency in question, you do nothing to help the overworked, overstressed mom who needs to be made aware of this horrible agency.2008 April 27, Djamila Fitzgerald, “Reveal name of nanny agency”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times…. From the entry overstressed
Three enormous torches, built of tree trunks and pinebranches, stand waiting in the muddy temple grounds where goldfish-fishing contests are in progress, batteries of slot machines are overworked.1974, Frederick Franck, Pilgrimage to Now/Here, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, →ISBN, page 101. From the entry pinebranch
Further, she would be more likely to bring to the bearing and rearing of her children a constitution unenfeebled by premature overwork and energies unsapped by its monotonous grind.1915, Alice Henry, The Trade Union Woman. From the entry unenfeebled
For a while he began to speak Japanese, rather slangy, never having seemed to learn it — karoshi for death from overwork, yakitaori-ya for eatery, and gaijin for clumsy foreigner.1976, Bill Henderson, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, Pushcart Press, page 207. From the entry karoshi

Meaning of overwork

verb To make (someone or something) work too hard.
verb To work too hard.
verb To fill too full of work; to crowd with labour.

Full definition of overwork

Questions about overwork in a sentence

How do you use overwork in a sentence?: Overwork is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Overworked and underpaid? Then quit your job and become a pro darts player.”
What is a short sentence with overwork?: “to overwork a horse”
What does overwork mean?: Overwork means to make (someone or something) work too hard.

Adapted from Wiktionary: overwork (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use overwork in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/overwork. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.