overdrive
/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdɹaɪv/verb, noun
overdrive is spelled O-V-E-R-D-R-I-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, overdrive means “To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overdrive?
| Letters | 9: O-V-E-R-D-R-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th 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 overdrive?
Overdrive appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th 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 overdrive?
- /ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈdɹaɪv/
As a noun (“A gear, on an automobile, higher than the traditional top…”): /ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌdɹaɪv/.
Overdrive 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-overdrive_(verb).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-overdrive_(noun).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of overdrive
- overdrives present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- overdriving participle, present
- overdrove past
- overdriven participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overdrive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To drive too hard, or far, or beyond strength.
noun
- 1
datedA gear, on an automobile, higher than the traditional top gear, mainly to allow better fuel economy at highway speeds. In the 21st century, such gears are no longer viewed as "extra" and thus rarely called by this name.
Near-synonym: top gear
- 2
A state of heightened activity.
overdrive pacing
- 3
slangFreewheeling (driving a vehicle with the transmission in neutral) on downhill stretches to achieve higher fuel economy and/or speed than otherwise. In colloquial registers, ethnically bigoted variants have been common, such as Jewish overdrive (alluding to the stereotype of miserly Jews) or Mexican overdrive or Polish overdrive (alluding to stereotypes of foolishness and poverty).
Of course overdrive is forbidden for dump trucks in the quarry because it is unsafe, but unscrupulous workers were found to be using it because of a perverse incentive involving tonnage piece rates.
- 4
A gear ratio higher than 1:1: one in which a single revolution of the driving element corresponds to more than one revolution of the driven element.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate overdrive?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of overdrive: O/D, OD.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overdrive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | surmultipliée , surrégime, surmenage |
| German | Schnellgang, Overdrive |
| Spanish | superdirecta, sobremarcha |
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 overdrive come from?
From Middle English overdriven, from Old English oferdrīfan, equivalent to over- + drive. Cognate with Saterland Frisian uurdrieuwe (“to overdo, overstate”), Dutch overdrijven (“to exaggerate”), German Low German overdrieven, överdrieven (“to overdo, exaggerate”), German übertreiben (“to overdo, exaggerate”), Norwegian overdrive (“to exaggerate”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).