too

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /tu/ UK /tuː/ See IPA manual

Homophones

to /tuː/ two /tu/

Freq #103

Meanings

1

adv
More than is needed, wanted, or acceptable.

This coffee is too hot to drink.
2

adv
Also; in addition.

She's coming to the party, and her brother is too.
3

adv
Very; to a high degree.

I'm not too sure about this plan.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · more than is needed,... excessively overly unnecessarily

2 adv · also; in addition. as welladditionally besides

3 adv · very; to a high degree. so

Word family

Derived forms me-toome-too-ismtoo-muchness

Appears in

Phrases (8)

See all

too clever
so calculating or crafty that it invites suspicion or undermines trust

Adverb + adjective
too embarrassed
so ashamed or awkward that it prevents a particular action

Adverb + adjective
too expensive
costing more money than someone can or wants to pay

Adverb + adjective
too frequent
happening more often than is useful or acceptable

Adverb + adjective
too involved
more complicated than someone can easily understand or manage

Adverb + adjective
too obvious
so easily noticed that it defeats a purpose or becomes inappropriate

Adverb + adjective

Idioms (5)

See all

have your cake and eat it too
to want two incompatible things at once
too clever by half
clever in a self-defeating way, so one's crafty plan causes trouble instead of success
have too many irons in the fire
To be involved in too many activities at once.
not to put too fine a point on it
used before saying something directly and bluntly
spread yourself too thin
to try to do so many things that you do none of them well

Etymology

From Middle English to (“also, in addition to”), from Old English tō (“furthermore, also, besides”), adverbial use of preposition tō (“to, into”). The sense of "in addition, also" deriving from the original meaning of "apart, separately" (compare Old English prefix tō- (“apart”)). Doublet of to; see there for more.

to Middle English tō Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# too

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adv
**IPA (US):** /tu/
**IPA (UK):** /tuː/
**Frequency rank:** 103

## Meanings
1. More than is needed, wanted, or acceptable.
2. Also; in addition.
3. Very; to a high degree.

## Examples
- This coffee is too hot to drink.
- She's coming to the party, and her brother is too.
- I'm not too sure about this plan.

## Derived Forms
- me-too
- me-too-ism
- too-muchness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: to
- Root: tō

## Etymology
From Middle English to (“also, in addition to”), from Old English tō (“furthermore, also, besides”), adverbial use of preposition tō (“to, into”). The sense of "in addition, also" deriving from the original meaning of "apart, separately" (compare Old English prefix tō- (“apart”)). Doublet of to; see there for more.

## AI Etymology
Too is from Middle English to (“also, in addition to”), from Old English tō (“furthermore, also, besides”), adverbial use of preposition tō (“to, into”). The sense of "in addition, also" deriving from the original meaning of "apart, separately" (compare Old English prefix tō- (“apart”)). Doublet of to; see there for more. In present-day use, it can mean more than is needed, wanted, or acceptable, or also; in addition. Derived formations include me-too, me-too-ism, too-muchness.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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