overwork

UK/ˌəʊvəˈwɜːk/US/ˌoʊvɚˈwɝk/

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,607 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: overworks

Overwork is too much work for one person to manage. Suffering from overwork, die of overwork, overwork and stress.

As a verb it also means to work a thing too hard, so a phrase can be overworked into meaninglessness. Japan has a word of its own, karoshi, for death from overwork, and it is recognised in its labour statistics.

Definitions of overwork

1nounoverworkToo much work for one person to manage.B2+
“The doctor said his headaches were caused by stress and overwork.”

overwork is a burden.

Where it comes from

Over- plus work, recorded in Middle English and matched by similar compounds across Germanic.

Old English
oferwyrċan — to overwork, overlay
Middle English
overwerken
English, today
overwork

From Middle English overwerken, possibly from Old English oferwyrċan (“to overwork, overlay”), equivalent to over- + work. Cognate with Dutch overwerken (“to overwork”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

overwork in the wild

Generally, deaths from overwork are a worldwide occurrence.
Karoshi
When he collapses from overwork, the pigs say they have sent him to a veterinarian.
Boxer (Animal Farm)
Average annual working hours have declined substantially since the late twentieth century, as concerns about overwork-related illness and mental health led to public debate and labour reforms.
Japanese work environment
While Giovanni accused a maid of poisoning his daughter, others saw Giovanni as the origin of death from stomach ulcer by overwork.
Giovanni Andrea Sirani

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

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