overkill

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ kill.

Pronunciation

Noun

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊ.vəˌkɪl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈoʊ.vɚˌkɪl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈkɪl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈkɪl/, /ˈoʊvɚˌkɪl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

overkill (uncountable)

1. (literally, military) A destructive capacity that exceeds that needed to destroy an enemy; especially with nuclear weapons.
   • 1990, Sir William Godfrey Fothergill Jackson, Britain's Defence Dilemma: An Inside View : Rethinking British Defence Policy in the Post-imperial Era, B. T. Batsford Limited:

     [The] increase in nuclear missiles available to the West was operationally unnecessary and would only add to the existing nuclear overkill; mixed manning was a formula for military disaster; […]

2. (literally) Destruction beyond what is necessary to kill, especially in murder.
   • 2017, James M. O'Kane, Wicked Deeds: Murder in America, Routledge, →ISBN:

     Bodies that have been stabbed or shot multiple times—far beyond what was sufficient to kill the victim (overkill)— suggest that the victim and assailant knew each other,  […]

   • 2018, Lt. James Glennon, Lt. Daniel Marcou, Chuck Remsberg, Street Survival II: Tactics for Deadly Force Encounters, Calibre Press, →ISBN:

     For some killers with a great deal of love/hate for their victims, it [an edged weapon] is the perfect instrument for a maniacal overkill.

   • 2020, Laurel Westbrook, Unlivable Lives: Violence and Identity in Transgender Activism, →ISBN, page 101:

     "Trans people generally don't get stabbed once; they get stabbed 20 times, shot, burned and thrown into a dumpster." […] Their killers, in displaying an especially virulent form of hatred, often went from murder to overkill, attempting to obliterate their victims, perhaps in an attempt to erase them completely, […]

3. (by extension) An unnecessary excess of whatever is needed to achieve a goal.

   24 hours of TV coverage of the US election verged on overkill.

   Should I give you yet more homework, or would that be overkill?

   • 1984 August 4, Maida Tilchen, “Sex, Politics, and Good Vibes”, in Gay Community News, page 8:

     This is a live concert album, a good choice because it allows for simpler instrumental backup and avoids the studio overkill that would be inappropriate for such a forthright album.

4. (manufacturing) An unnecessary excess of disposal because of too high criteria of inspection.

   Antonym: underkill

Translations

unnecessary excess

• Czech: kanón na vrabce
• Finnish: liika (fi), liioittelu (fi)
• French: excès (fr) m, surpuissance (fr) f
• German: Overkill (de) m, Übermaß (de) n
• Greek: υπέρβαση (el) f (ypérvasi), υπερβολή (el) f (ypervolí)

  Ancient Greek: ὑπέρβασις f (hupérbasis), ὑπερβολή f (huperbolḗ)

• Hungarian: ágyúval lő verébre (hu)
• Italian: eccessivo (it)
• Polish: przesada (pl) f
• Portuguese: exagero (pt) m
• Russian: переги́б (ru) m (peregíb), перебо́р (ru) m (perebór), перевыполнение (ru) n (perevypolnenije), из пушки по воробьям (ru) (iz puški po vorobʹjam)
• Spanish: excesivo (es) m, matar moscas a cañonazos
• Swedish: please add this translation if you can

Verb

overkill (third-person singular simple present overkills, present participle overkilling, simple past and past participle overkilled)

1. (transitive) To destroy something with more (nuclear) force than is required.
2. (manufacturing) To dispose of too many items because of too-high criteria of inspection.

   Antonym: underkill

3. To do something excessive to achieve a goal.