Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
overwound. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
overwound, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
overwound in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
overwound you have here. The definition of the word
overwound will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
overwound, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From over- + wound.
Pronunciation
Verb
overwound
- simple past and past participle of overwind
Adjective
overwound (comparative more overwound, superlative most overwound)
- (figuratively, uncommon) Nervous, tense, jumpy.
1949, Irwin Shaw, The Young Lions:Everyone else Christian had had anything to do with, ever since the bad night outside Alexandria, had seemed to be overwound, jumpy, bitter, hysterical, overtired...
1957, Richard Hoggart, The Uses Of Literacy:He has left his class, at least in spirit, by being in certain ways unusual; and he is still unusual in another class, too tense and overwound.
2004, Emma Holly, Strange Attractions, →ISBN, page 23:Eric's boss had accused him more than once of being a worrier, but Eric hadn't felt this overwound since his previous employer's stock underwent a dot-bomb implosion.
2004 October 6, Sidney Blumenthal, “The master of Washington vs. the fox”, in Salon.com, archived from the original on 7 March 2008:He could only exist with a chief executive self-absorbed in his resentments, narrow in experience and intellectual scope, and who does not hold his vice president accountable; an incompetent national security advisor, overwound in her eagerness to please; and a secretary of state who never presses his advantages but accepts his internal defeats, playing the good soldier.