English edit

Etymology edit

over- +‎ qualify

Verb edit

overqualify (third-person singular simple present overqualifies, present participle overqualifying, simple past and past participle overqualified)

  1. (transitive) To give excessive academic qualifications to.
    • 2001, Charles A. Jaffe, The Right Way to Hire Financial Help, 2nd edition, page 270:
      [] remember it is better to overqualify advisers than to make assumptions about their abilities.
  2. (transitive) To modify, restrict or moderate (a statement, etc.) excessively.
    • 2003, Linda Papadopoulos, Malcolm Cross, Robert Bor, Reporting in Counselling and Psychotherapy, page 59:
      I do have a tendency sometimes to overqualify what I am saying or labour the point.