overmasterful

English

Alternative forms

• over-masterful

Etymology

From over- +‎ masterful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊvəˈmæstɚfəl/

Adjective

overmasterful (comparative more overmasterful, superlative most overmasterful)

1. (rare) Overly masterful; having excessive mastery.
   • 1883, The Fortnightly Review 1883-11-01: Volume 34, Issue 203‎^[1], Contemporary Review Company, page 663:

     The simple truth is that in the dreadful muddle of the French military interests, the German strategy was daringly overmasterful.

   • 1905, Stanley John Weyman, Starvecrow Farm‎^[2], Longmans, Green, and Company, page 61:

     It was evident that his astonishment was great. He was a portly man, and tall, about forty years old, and, after his fashion, handsome. He had well-formed features and a mobile smile; but his face was masterful — overmasterful, some thought; and his eyes were hard, when a sly look did not soften, without much improving, their expression.

   • 1910, Brander Matthews, The Development of the Drama‎^[3], Charles Scribner's Sons, page 31:

     This is a reason why he may seem sometimes intolerant or overmasterful.

   • 1913, Mary Eleanor Gawthorpe, Votes for Men‎^[4], Duffield, pages 14–15:

     The cold, frosty fact, seemingly not imderstood by most men, is that erratic, excitable or overmasterful women are suffering from some defect of organism, and that the women to whom the woman's programme doesn't appeal, simply have not the blood and nerve to enjoy it.

   • 1920, Edith E. Read Mumford, The Dawn of Character‎^[5], page 98:

     And when the bricks cease to satisfy his creative instincts — wood, hammer and nails; clay, pencil, brush and paper, are given, is good; we try to satisfy him; and both desire and capacity grow through use. But the lad is overmasterful.

References

• “overmasterful”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.