English

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Etymology

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From Middle English overreden, from Old English oferrǣdan (to read over; read through; consider), equivalent to over- +‎ read.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /əʊvəˈɹiːd/
    • (past tense, past participle, adjective) IPA(key): /əʊvəˈɹɛd/

Verb

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overread (third-person singular simple present overreads, present participle overreading, simple past and past participle overread)

  1. (obsolete) To read over, or peruse. [10th–19th c.]
  2. (transitive) To interpret something to a greater degree, or in a more positive way, than appropriate; read too in-depth; overinterpret; overanalyze.
    • 2005, Hilde Heynen, Gulsum Baydar, Negotiating Domesticity:
      To overread Plath's houses is to transform these biographical documents into spatial ones.
    • 2008, H. Porter Abbott, The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative:
      At the same time, we overread. That is, we find in narratives qualities, motives, moods, ideas, judgments, even events for which there is no direct evidence in the discourse.
    • 2009 January 20, Heather Timmons, Jeremy Kahn, “Past Graft Is Tainting New India”, in New York Times[1]:
      Did we just overread and overstate our place in the world?
  3. To read too much or excessively.

Antonyms

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Adjective

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overread (comparative more overread, superlative most overread)

  1. Having read too much.

Anagrams

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