overwrought

Past participle of overwork; equivalent to over- +‎ wrought.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əʊ.vəˈɹɔːt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: overraught

overwrought

1. (archaic) simple past and past participle of overwork

overwrought (comparative more overwrought, superlative most overwrought)

1. Excessively nervous, excited, tense, angry, anxious, or upset; overemotional; very uneasy.
2. Elaborate; baroque; overdone.
   • 2025 December 17, Jennifer Szalai, “The Intellectuals Fueling the MAGA Movement”, in The New York Times Book Review‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 December 2025:

     Her book includes an incisive discussion of misogyny on the New Right. [Laura K.] Field notes how “gynocracy” and “the longhouse” have become overwrought MAGA epithets for an unbearably feminized and pluralist society.

• (emotional): distraught, overwhelmed, distressed, agitated, strung, wrought-up
• (elaborate): ornate, overdecorated

• (antonym(s) of “emotional”): calm, collected, composed, laid-back, placid, serene, tranquil, untroubled
• (antonym(s) of “elaborate”): austere, bare, conservative, denuded, modest, naked, plain, simple, stark, stripped, uncovered, restrained, subdued, toned-down, unadorned

• overwroughtness