overhope

English

Etymology

From Middle English overhope, oferhope, equivalent to over- +‎ hope.

Noun

overhope (uncountable)

1. Excessive hope or anticipation; presumption.
   • 1859, Francis Bacon, James Spedding, Robert Leslie Ellis, The works of Francis Bacon: Volume 7:

     If the good turn out less than you hoped for, good though it be, yet because it is not so good, it seems to you more like a loss than a gain, by reason of the overhope.

2. (UK dialectal) Hopefulness; sanguineness.

Verb

overhope (third-person singular simple present overhopes, present participle overhoping, simple past and past participle overhoped)

1. To hope excessively; presume.
   • 1919, The Country gentleman, volume 84:

     If we have overhoped ourselves in the hay we may have done the same with the hogs.

   • 1992, David G. Moursund, International Society for Technology in Education, The technology coordinator:

     I'll cast this observation a little too broadly to make the point clearer: many principals "overhoped" that computers would have miraculous effects on all students exposed to them even if only for a few minutes per week, and now finding [...]

2. (transitive, UK dialectal) To hope constantly.