overprotect
verb
over·pro·tect
ˌō-vər-prə-ˈtekt 
overprotected; overprotecting
: to protect (someone or something) more than is necessary or reasonable
Resist overprotecting your daughter because it sends the message that you think she can't handle the situation …—
Kathy Lynn
Kathy LynnBut this lawsuit questions whether the university had overprotected an athlete.—Marcia Chambers
Marcia ChambersOne never notices a dead flower, and other artists have said they feel the garden actually looks too fresh and overprotected.—R. I. C. Fisher
R. I. C. Fisher
overprotection
noun
… millennials' perceived entitlement isn't a result of overprotection but an adaptation to a world of abundance.
—Joel Stein
Joel Stein
overprotective
adjective
… she was constantly anxious and pathologically overprotective of her son; he had, literally, to escape the grounds of their estate and the watchfulness of a swarm of servants in order to play with another child.
—Anne Bernays
Anne Bernays
overprotectiveness
noun
held back by the overprotectiveness of his parents
Examples of overprotect in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Other families overprotect a disabled child, and drive them through endless therapies and painful regimens in hopes of achieving some kind of cure.
—Andrew Pulrang, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023
Unfortunately, a lot of people will go to the opposite extreme and overprotect their hearing at safe levels.
—Simon Hill, Wired, 1 Feb. 2022
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Andrew Pulrang, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2023
Unfortunately, a lot of people will go to the opposite extreme and overprotect their hearing at safe levels.
—Simon Hill, Wired, 1 Feb. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Overprotect.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overprotect. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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