overblown

overblown
overblown (adj.) late 15c., "blown over, passed away," from verb overblow (late 14c.), from OVER (Cf. over) + BLOW (Cf. blow) (v.). Meaning "inflated, puffed up" (with vanity, etc.) is from 1864.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • overblown — o ver*blown , a. 1. Having been given more publicity than warranted; having had ascribed more importance than was justified; as, an overblown medical discovery. [PJC] 3. Bombastic, pretentious, or excessive; as, overblown rhetoric. [PJC] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Overblown — Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them is a book by the respected American political scientist John E. Mueller published in 2006. It argues that the threat presented by… …   Wikipedia

  • overblown — index inflated (bombastic) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • overblown — [adj] excessive, too much aureate, bombastic, disproportionate, euphuistic, flowery, fulsome, grandiloquent, hyped up*, immoderate, inflated, magniloquent, oratorical, overdone, pompous, pretentious, profuse, rhetorical, sonorous, superfluous,… …   New thesaurus

  • overblown — ► ADJECTIVE 1) excessive or exaggerated. 2) (of a flower) past its prime …   English terms dictionary

  • overblown — overblown1 [ō΄vər blōn′] adj. past the stage of full bloom overblown2 [ō΄vər blōn′] adj. 1. stout; obese 2. a) overdone; excessive b) pompous or bombastic …   English World dictionary

  • overblown — overblown1 /oh veuhr blohn /, adj. 1. overdone or excessive: overblown praise. 2. of unusually large size or proportions: a majestic, overblown figure. 3. overinflated; turgid; bombastic; pretentious: overblown prose. v. 4. pp. of overblow. [1590 …   Universalium

  • overblown — [[t]o͟ʊvə(r)blo͟ʊn[/t]] ADJ GRADED Something that is overblown makes something seem larger, more important, or more significant than it really is. Warnings of disaster may be overblown... The reporting of the hostage story was fair, if sometimes… …   English dictionary

  • overblown — I. adjective Etymology: 3blow Date: 1616 past the prime of bloom < overblown roses > II. adjective Etymology: 1blow Date: 1864 1. excessively large in girth …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • overblown — o|ver|blown [ ,ouvər bloun ] adjective MAINLY LITERARY 1. ) something that is overblown is made to seem more important, exciting, or impressive than it really is: overblown reports of earthquake damage 2. ) an overblown object is too big or too… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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