Meaning

Too long; overly long..

Definitions by Sense

1. Too long; overly long.
2. Too long, for an excessively long time.

Example Sentences

O, hold me not with silence over-long!

As the Island Mindanao lies very convenient for Trade, so considering its distance, the way thither may not be over long and tiresome.

Many of the adults had been little apes during his boyhood. He had frolicked and played about this very jungle with them during their brief childhood. He wondered if they would remember him—the memory of some apes is not overlong, and two years may be an eternity to them.

So far as this particular service is concerned, there is an overlong interval between the arrival of the car-ferry in Calais at 3.45 p.m. and the departure of the Lyss train from Calais Ville at 6.30 p.m.

The next minute the little boy, still in his overlong trousers, was being dragged out of the house by the warden who had him by the ear.

[…] she casteth the rest into the fire, and there withall sodainely flings herselfe into it: Which is no sooner done, but the people cast great store of Faggots and Billets vpon hir, lest she should languish over-long […]

[…] his wandering restless glance lingered over-long even on his girl cousin, so that his pretty sharp-voiced wife recalled him with a little sneer she slipped sidewise into something else she said.

He does not need to think overlong to know what the right thing is.

Word Forms

• over-long
• more overlong
• most overlong

Related Words

When Should You Use Overlong?

Use overlong when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions