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Glite Dictionary
🧠 To practice deeply 🤖 To memorize too much
to overlearn

to overlearn

6.3
Practice something so much that you remember it very well, even under stress
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈlɜrn/
translation icon : sobrecargar
  • Students often overlearn material for exams.

Examples

  • If you overlearn vocabulary, you will remember it even under stress.

  • He realized he might have overlearned the song lyrics when he could sing them perfectly without looking at the words.

  • The coach asked the team to overlearn their plays to avoid mistakes during the game.

  • She decided to overlearn the speech so she would not forget any part of it.

  • He tends to overlearn his lines for the play.

  • After practicing for weeks, she found that she had overlearned the math concepts and could recall them easily during tests.

  • When the presentation went smoothly, she was glad to see that she had overlearned her speech and felt confident answering questions.

Synonyms

to memorize
vsto overlearn
175 2.3

Learn something so you can remember it exactly

practices until retention is stronger and lasts beyond initial mastery

Antonyms

to forget
∞ 1.0

Not remember something you should remember

How Secure

to overlearn
6.3
to master
191 4.1
to learn
∞ 1.0
to practice
  • US
697 1.0

Surface Forms

overlearn infinitive
overlearned past
overlearned past participle
overlearning present participle
overlearns third person singular

Morphology

overlearn = learn (transparent) = over + learn

The meaning is clearly derived from 'over' + 'learn', indicating excessive learning.

Etymology

Overlearn joins the parts over- meaning 'too much' (like in overcook or overdo) and learn meaning 'to study or remember'. So, to overlearn something is to practise it so much that you will remember it easily, even under pressure.