overengineer

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ engineer.

Verb

overengineer (third-person singular simple present overengineers, present participle overengineering, simple past and past participle overengineered)

1. (transitive) To render something more complicated than necessary; often implying that the complexity was added intentionally.
   • 2007 January 31, Martin Fackler, “Hobbled by Disappointing Sales and a Loss at the Game Unit, Sony's Profit Drops 5%”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     While PlayStation 3 surpasses both Wii and Xbox 360 in performance and graphics, the critics say it suffers from the same problem as many other Sony products: it is overengineered, scaring away average shoppers.

   • 2023 June 28, Sir Michael Holden, “Comment: 'There will be more Nunehams'”, in RAIL, number 986, page 3:

     Fortunately, the Victorians over-engineered their structures, as they didn't have the advantages we have now of a modern understanding of structural dynamics.

Related terms

• overdesign