overbearing
adjective, verb
overbearing is spelled O-V-E-R-B-E-A-R-I-N-G: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, overbearing means “Overly bossy, domineering, arrogant, forceful, intense, or annoying” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overbearing?
| Letters | 11: O-V-E-R-B-E-A-R-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 32,393rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is overbearing?
Overbearing appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce overbearing?
Overbearing has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of overbearing
- more overbearing comparative
- most overbearing superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overbearing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Overly bossy, domineering, arrogant, forceful, intense, or annoying.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of overbear
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overbearing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense overly bossy or domineering:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dominateur, despotique |
| German | anmaßend, herrisch, überheblich |
| Portuguese | prepotente, arrogante |
| Spanish | oprimente, subyugante, prepotente, despótico, imperioso, dominante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does overbearing come from?
From overbear (“to bear down (on)”) + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).