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Glite Dictionary
🧩 Too complicated 🧩 To add too much
overelaborate

overelaborate

7.6
Too complicated and full of detail that is not needed
  • adjective
  • /ˌoʊvərɪˈlæbəˌreɪt/
translation icon : excesivamente detallado
  • The presentation was too overelaborate, filled with unnecessary details that confused the audience.

Examples

  • Similarly, examination of the (overelaborate) economic theory of exhaustible resources fails to disclose any plausible way to relate OPEC behavior to impending exhaustion.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Later, he even considered what he had done to be overelaborate.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Her overelaborate explanation of a simple process made it hard for anyone to follow.

  • We decided to simplify the project because the initial plan was becoming overelaborate and difficult to manage.

Synonyms

excessive
vsoverelaborate
224 3.6

More than is needed or reasonable

is specifically about too much detail or complication rather than any excess
fussy
vsoverelaborate
4 5.0

Having too many small details makes it look crowded

is about excess detail but in broader complexity not only small bits
overcomplicated
vsoverelaborate
1 6.2

More complex than it needs to be

focuses on extra detail making something more complicated than needed
overdecorated
vsoverelaborate
1 4.7

Having too many things to make it look pretty so it feels crowded or showy

covers excessive detail broadly not limited to decoration alone
overinvolved
vsoverelaborate
7.4

Having too many details that make it hard to follow

focuses on excess detail rather than just many parts
overprecise
vsoverelaborate
7.3

Being more exact than needed

emphasizes excess detail but focuses on complexity and extra parts
over-embellished
vsoverelaborate
7.3

Too decorated so it looks showy and not natural

is about too much detail generally not only decorative or showy

Antonyms

simple
∞ 1.0

Easy to understand or do

How Elaborate

overelaborate
7.6
elaborate
179 4.9
detailed
353 3.7
simple
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

overelaborate positive

Morphology

overelaborate = elaborate (transparent) = over + elaborate

The prefix 'over-' clearly indicates an excess or too much of the base word 'elaborate'.

Etymology

The word overelaborate joins over- 'too much' and elaborate, which comes from a root like labor meaning 'work'. So something overelaborate has had 'too much work' on its details and is more complicated than needed.