overpower

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˌoʊvɚˈpaʊɚ/ UK /ˌəʊvəˈpaʊə/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to defeat or subdue by greater strength or force

The guards struggled to overpower the intruder.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to defeat or subdue by... overwhelm subdue overcome vanquish conquer overmaster crush

Opposites

yield submit surrender

Word family

Derived forms overpoweringoverpowered

Related forms power empower

Etymology

From over- ('beyond, surpassing') plus power, from Old French poeir ('to be able'), from Vulgar Latin potere, from Latin posse ('to be able'). Means to defeat by greater force.

potēre Latin posse Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# overpower

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˌoʊvɚˈpaʊɚ
**IPA (UK):** ˌəʊvəˈpaʊə

## Meanings
1. to defeat or subdue by greater strength or force

## Examples
- The guards struggled to overpower the intruder.

## Synonyms
- overwhelm
- subdue
- overcome
- vanquish
- conquer
- overmaster
- crush

## Antonyms
- yield
- submit
- surrender

## Derived Forms
- overpowering
- overpowered

## Related Forms
- power
- empower

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: potēre
- Root: posse

## Etymology
From over- ('beyond, surpassing') plus power, from Old French poeir ('to be able'), from Vulgar Latin potere, from Latin posse ('to be able'). Means to defeat by greater force.

## AI Etymology
Overpower comes from over- ('beyond, surpassing') plus power, from Old French poeir ('to be able'), from Vulgar Latin potere, from Latin posse ('to be able'). Means to defeat by greater force. The etymological trail includes Latin potēre and Latin posse. As a verb, overpower means to defeat or subdue by greater strength or force. The same family is visible in derived forms such as overpowering and overpowered and related forms such as power and empower.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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overpower

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