overwise

English

Alternative forms

• over wise

Etymology

From Middle English overe-wyse, over wise, equivalent to over- +‎ wise.

Adjective

overwise (comparative more overwise, superlative most overwise)

1. Excessively wise; too clever for one's own good.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:

     “Perkins? Bless you, Perkins wouldn’t go a-nigh the place. No!” observed the young man, with considerable feeling; “he ain’t overwise, ain’t Perkins, but he ain’t such a fool as that.”

Derived terms

• overwisely
• overwiseness