overuse

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *úp

Proto-Indo-European *-er

Proto-Indo-European *upér

Proto-Germanic *uber

Old English ofer-

Middle English over-

English over-

English use

English overuse

From over- + use.

Pronunciation

• (verb)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈjuːz/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • (US) enPR: ō'vərjo͞oz, IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈjuːz/
  • Rhymes: -uːz
• (noun)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈjuːs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

  • (US) enPR: ō'vərjo͞os, IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈjuːs/
  • Rhymes: -uːs

Verb

overuse (third-person singular simple present overuses, present participle overusing, simple past and past participle overused)

1. (transitive) To use too much of (something); to use (it) too often.

   Synonym: overwork

   • 2003, Michael L. Raulin, Abnormal Psychology, Pearson Education, Inc., page 494:

     Another group argues that the diagnosis is being overused and that many of the diagnosed cases are iatrogenic, or unintentionally shaped or caused by the practitioner

   • 2009 August 22, Nicholas Kristof, “Food for the Soul”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     On a summer visit back to the farm here where I grew up, I think I figured out the central problem with modern industrial agriculture. It’s not just that it produces unhealthy food, mishandles waste and overuses antibiotics in ways that harm us all.

   • 2018, John W. Barnhill, Approach to the Psychiatric Patient, page 451:

     Therapeutic zeal is express in a number of ways, some of them quite obvious, others subtle. A therapeutic manner that is too self-assured and controlling is a dead giveaway. Other obvious signs of therapeutic zeal include getting annoyed or openly frustrated with patients who do not change in the way the therapist desires; "blaming" the patient by vidictively attributing lack of results to more severe pathology than was intially assumed; or overusing such terms as passive aggressive and poorly motivated.

Translations

To use too much of

• Esperanto: trouzi
• Finnish: käyttää liikaa
• French: surutiliser (fr), galvauder (fr) (a word, a term)
• Ido: trouzar (io)
• Russian: злоупотребля́ть (ru) (zloupotrebljátʹ)
• Spanish: usar con exceso (es), sobreutilizar, desperdiciar (es), trillar (es)

Noun

overuse (uncountable)

1. excessive use
   • 2015 July 5, Mike Hale, “Review: ‘Tough Love’ on PBS Examines Custody Battles With the State”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     There’s an occasional schmaltziness, aggravated by the overuse of a twangy score, but more than enough moments of genuine heartbreak, joy and suspense to make up for it.

Translations

excessive use

• Czech: nadužívání n
• Finnish: liikakäyttö (fi)
• French: surutilisation (fr) f
• Polish: nadużycie (pl) n, nadużywanie (pl) n
• Russian: злоупотребле́ние (ru) (zloupotreblénije)
• Spanish: sobreuso m, sobreutilización f

Anagrams

• oeuvres, œuvres