overly

«overly» in Mova's school dictionary: too much, more than needed — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adverb (overly)

meaning for a pupil

Overly means too much, more than needed. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in everyday and school talk, often with «not»: «not overly keen» means not very keen (a polite, understated way of speaking).

examples

• Don't be overly worried about the test. tree →
• The film was overly long. tree →
• I'm not overly fond of broccoli. tree →
• She was overly polite to the visitors. tree →
• The rules seemed overly strict. tree →
• He was overly careful with the eggs. tree →

note

Used before an adjective: overly long, overly careful. «Not overly» is a gentle way of saying «not very». More common in US English; in the UK people also say «too» or «over-».

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «overly» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.