overwrought
adjUK /əʊ.vəˈɹɔːt/
Etymology Past participle of overwork; equivalent to over- + wrought.
1
Excessively nervous, excited, tense, angry, anxious, or upset; overemotional; very uneasy.
2
Elaborate; baroque; overdone.
- Her book includes an incisive discussion of misogyny on the New Right. [Laura K.] Field notes how “gynocracy” and “the longhouse” have become overwrought MAGA epithets for an unbearably feminized and pluralist society.2025 December 17, Jennifer Szalai, “The Intellectuals Fueling the MAGA Movement”, in The New York Times Book Review, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 Dec 2025:
- Synonyms
- distraught, overwhelmed, distressed, agitated, strung, wrought-up, ornate, overdecorated
- Antonyms
- calm, collected, composed, laid-back, placid, serene, tranquil, untroubled, austere, bare, conservative, denuded, modest, naked, plain, simple, stark, stripped, uncovered, restrained, subdued, toned-down, unadorned
- Derived terms
- overwroughtness