overdose
/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdəʊs/noun, verb
overdose is spelled O-V-E-R-D-O-S-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, overdose means “An excessive and dangerous dose of a drug” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of overdose is overdoses.
How many letters and syllables are in overdose?
| Letters | 8: O-V-E-R-D-O-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th 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 overdose?
Overdose appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th 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 overdose?
- /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdəʊs/
- /ˈəʊvɚˌdəʊs/
- /ˈʌo̞vɚˌdʌo̞s/
As a verb (“To dose to excess; to give an overdose, or too many doses…”): /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdəʊs/.
Overdose has 3 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). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-overdose.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-overdose2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of overdose
- overdoses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- overdosing participle, present
- overdosed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overdose mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An excessive and dangerous dose of a drug.
to die of a heroin overdose
verb
- 1
To dose to excess; to give an overdose, or too many doses, to someone.
- 2
To dose excessively, to take an overdose.
Be careful not to overdose on those pills.
- 3
To indulge in something excessively.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate overdose?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of overdose: OD.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overdose in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | surdose, surdosage, overdose , surdoser |
| German | Überdosis , überdosieren |
| Portuguese | overdose, superdose |
| Spanish | sobredosis , sobredosificar |
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 overdose come from?
From over- + dose.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).