WordGarden.iooverexcite
Pronunciation
UK
- /ˌəʊvərɛksˈaɪt/
US
- /ˌoʊvərɛkˈsaɪt/
Meanings
Verb
to make someone too excited, agitated, or overstimulated
to stimulate a nerve, tissue, circuit, or system beyond its normal activation level
Beyond the definition
Imagine a puppy getting way too excited about a new toy: bouncing off the walls, yipping nonstop, and knocking things over. That is the basic idea here. It means making a person or animal so excited that the feeling goes past a calm or useful level. You might do this to a child with too many surprises at once, or a crowd might become this way during a big event. The word usually suggests that the excitement is now a bit too much and may lead to noise, stress, or loss of control.
To overexcite someone means to make them excessively excited, so their reaction goes beyond what is comfortable, calm, or easy to manage. Excitement is often a good thing, but this word points to an excess of it: a rush of energy or emotion that can turn into restlessness, poor judgment, anxiety, or disorder.
The idea is not simply making someone happy. It is pushing them past a healthy or useful level of excitement. This can happen in many settings. A parent might overexcite a child with too many gifts or promises at once. A show, game, or public event might overexcite a crowd until people start acting wildly. Advertising can also overexcite buyers by building expectations that are too high.
The word is also used more broadly for things that seem worked up beyond a safe or sensible point. For example, people may describe a market as overexcited when prices are rising too fast because of emotion rather than careful judgment. In every case, the core idea is the same: the excitement has crossed the line from enjoyable to excessive, and that excess may cause problems.
Examples
- 1
Animal care
Don’t overexcite the puppy before the long car ride.
- 2
Bedtime
Fast, noisy games can overexcite young children near bedtime.
- 3
Nervous system
Too much caffeine may overexcite the nervous system.
See also
Similar
- overstimulate
- hype up
- work up
Shades of meaning
Contrast
Used with (collocations)
- overexcite the children
- overexcite the nervous system
- overexcite a dog
Word family
- overexcited
- overexcitement
Explore
- stimulation
- sensory overload
Forms and spellings
1 form open this card.
Main spelling
- overexcite