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Glite Dictionary
to overactivate

to overactivate

1 6.6
Cause something to become too active
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈæktɪveɪt/
translation icon : sobreactivar
  • Excessive training can overactivate your muscles, causing fatigue and injury.

Examples

  • Too much caffeine can overactivate your nervous system, making you feel anxious.

  • When apoptosis is overactivated (as in stroke and such neurodegenerative conditions as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases), an excessive number of brain neurons die.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Overactivated UPR may lead to certain neurodegenerative diseases, and inhibiting UPR is a possible therapy for these diseases (158).

    Academic text (2018)

  • If you overactivate the brain's reward centers, it can lead to addiction.

Synonyms

to overstimulate
vsto overactivate
  • Specialized
4 6.3

Give someone too much noise, light or activity so they become stressed

causes excessive activation without specifically implying harm
to overexcite
vsto overactivate
2 3.5

To make people or animals too excited

causes abnormal activation more broadly, not only excitement
to push into overdrive
vsto overactivate
6.1

To work much harder and faster to get something done

causes excessive activity as an abnormal state rather than planned increase

Antonyms

to deactivate
63 3.9

To make a device, system, or account stop working

How Active

to overstimulate
  • Specialized
4 6.3
to overactivate
1 6.6
to stimulate
236 3.7
to activate
715 3.6

Surface Forms

overactivate infinitive
overactivated past
overactivated past participle
overactivating present participle
overactivates third person singular

Morphology

overactivate = activate (transparent) = over + activate

The prefix 'over-' adds the standard meaning 'excessively' to the verb 'activate', so the combined meaning is directly derivable.

Etymology

The word overactivate is built from over- meaning 'too much', as in overdo, and activate meaning 'make active', like active or action. So to overactivate something is to make it 'too active' or active in a way that can cause problems.