overmuch

• over much

From Middle English overmuche; equivalent to over- +‎ much. Old English had cognate ofermicel. Compare overmany and overmore. A doublet of Scottish English overmickle.

overmuch

1. (chiefly Britain) Very much; too much
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Corinthians 2:7:

     So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.

   • 1914, Theodore Roosevelt, Through the Brazilian Wilderness, London: John Murray, Chapter VII, p. 232,

     If we met with accidents, such as losing canoes and men in the rapids, or losing men in encounters with Indians, or if we encountered overmuch fever and dysentery, the loads would lighten themselves.

   • 1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter 1.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, OCLC 639975898:

     He had much prudence, much conscientiousness, and there were occasions when these virtues were the cause of overmuch disquietude in him.

   • 1990, General Sir William Jackson, Britain's defence dilemma: An inside view (rethinking British defence policy in the post-imperial era), page 78,

     This seemed to me a more important priority in 1959 than overmuch argument about nuclear philosophical heresies of one kind or another.

overmuch (not comparable)

1. Excessive
   • 1640, John Parkinson, “Symphitum majus. Great Comfrey.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, OCLC 230746811, page 524:

     […] it is good to be applyed to womens breaſts, that grow ſore by the aboundance of milke comming into them: as alſo to repreſſe the overmuch bleeding of the hemorrhoids, to coole the Inflammations of the parts thereabouts, and to give eaſe of paines: […].

   • 1693, [John Locke], “§14”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], OCLC 1161614482, page 13:

     Our Palates like the Seaſoning and Cookery they are ſet to, and an over much Uſe of Salt, beſides that it occaſions thirſt, and over-much Drinking, has other ill Effects upon the Body.

overmuch (not comparable)

1. (chiefly Britain) Too much; overly much

   Some readers do not care overmuch for poetry.

   • c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

     O, he hath kept an evil diet long, / And overmuch consumed his royal person:

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Ecclesiastes 7:16:

     Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

   • 1915, Caradoc Evans, "The Blast of God" in My People: Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales, New York: Boni & Liveright, 1918, p. 267,

     " […] Do you be humble, and tempt you the Big Man not overmuch. He is quick to anger."

   • 1922, E. E. Cummings, "Songs, III" in Complete Poems, 1904-1962, edited by George J. Firmage, New York: Liveright, 1991, p. 13,

     yet what am i that such and such / mysteries very simple touch / me,whose heart-wholeness overmuch / Expects of your hair pale, / a terror musical?

   • 1956, Langston Hughes, I Wonder as I Wander, edited by Joseph McLaren, Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2003, Chapter 3, p. 115,

     All of us were being paid regularly, wined and dined overmuch and had the whole theater world of Moscow for our enjoyment.

overmuch

1. Too much
   • 1922, Knut Hamsun, Wanders, translated by W. Worster, London: Gyldendal, p. 190,

     They had felled too freely here; the sawmills had taken over-much, leaving next to no young wood.

   • 1947, Pindar, "Pythia 1" in Odes, translated by Richmond Lattimore, University of Chicago Press, p. 46,

     If citizens hear overmuch of the bliss of others, it galls the secrecy of their hearts.