overzealous
/ˌəʊvəˈzɛləs/adjective
overzealous is spelled O-V-E-R-Z-E-A-L-O-U-S: 11 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,660th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, overzealous means “Too zealous; too enthusiastic or fervent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overzealous?
| Letters | 11: O-V-E-R-Z-E-A-L-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,660th 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 overzealous?
Overzealous appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,660th 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 overzealous?
- /ˌəʊvəˈzɛləs/
Overzealous 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). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-overzealous.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-overzealous.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of overzealous
- more overzealous comparative
- most overzealous superlative
- over-zealous
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overzealous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Too zealous; too enthusiastic or fervent.
With his overzealous attempts to impress, he only managed to annoy her.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overzealous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense too zealous; too enthusiastic or fervent:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | übereifrig |
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 overzealous come from?
From over- + zealous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).