Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏗️ To build too much 📷 To process too long
to overdevelop

to overdevelop

1 4.5
To build too many houses or buildings on land, causing loss of green space
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərdɪˈvɛlɪp/
translation icon : sobredesarrollar
  • If we continue overdeveloping these coastal areas, we risk losing the natural beauty they once had.

Examples

  • The community is concerned that new construction projects will overdevelop the region, reducing green spaces for residents.

  • Protect the rural character of Damascus against those who want to overdevelop.

    Blog text (23)

  • But today we're seeing these very low prices because the industry overshot when we had those $6, $7, $8, and $9 prices, and we overdeveloped the supply. Now people are just getting by on cash in some cases.

    Blog text (5)

  • As he recovers, he teaches her that the central Justica planets are overdeveloped and depleted.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • First, non-commutershed hinterland resource-extractive regions like Hazard and the coal regions of West Virginia (where I am from) and similar extractive communities across the world are not underdeveloped; they are overdeveloped.

    Blog text (10)

  • Many cities face the challenge of how to avoid overdeveloping their downtown areas, which can lead to overcrowding.

Synonyms

to overexpand
vsto overdevelop
1 5.2

To grow too fast and cause serious problems for a business

refers specifically to excessive land development causing loss of green space and overcrowding

Antonyms

to undevelop
8.1

Remove buildings or roads from land to make it more natural

How Developed

to overdevelop
1 4.5
to develop
259 2.8
to build up
  • Specialized
10 3.2

Surface Forms

overdevelop infinitive
overdeveloped past
overdeveloped past participle
overdeveloping present participle
overdevelops third person singular

Morphology

overdevelop = develop (transparent) = over + develop

The meaning is directly derived from the productive prefix 'over-' (excessively) applied to 'develop' in the sense of building or converting land, so learners can infer it.

Etymology

Overdevelop combines over- 'too much' and develop 'to build or grow', so it means to build or change a place 'too much', which is why it can remove green space and cause overcrowding.