overfierce

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ fierce.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌəʊvəˈfɪəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌoʊvɚˈfɪɹs/

Adjective

overfierce (comparative more overfierce, superlative most overfierce)

1. (rare) Excessively fierce; overly ferocious.
   • 1888, Mrs. Humphry Ward, Robert Elsmere‎, Hurst and Company, page 281:

     So he wrote to the squire, showing the letter to Catherine when it was done, lest there should be anything overfierce in it. It was the simple record of twelve months’ experience told with dignity and feeling. Henslowe was barely mentioned in it, and the chief burden of the letter was to implore the squire to come and inspect certain portions of his property with his own eyes. The rector would be at his service any day or hour.

   • 1898, Mrs. Humphry Ward, The Chicago Daily Tribune 1898-11-04: Volume 57, Issue 303‎, Hurst and Company, page 8:

     In other respects also his book is a severe and overfierce indictment against the century for its still-continued failures and its wonderful achievements and correspondingly wonderful advantages.

   • 1899, Eugène Sue, The Mysteries of Paris‎, National Library Company, page 266:

     To-morrow (Friday), about eleven o'clock, let there be a good (not an overfierce) fire lighted in both rooms ; have everything well dusted, and remove the coverings from the furniture, taking especial care not to scratch the gilding, or to soil or burn the carpet while lighting the fires.

   • 1900-1915, Alice Morse Earle, Stage-Coach and Tavern Days‎, The Macmillan Company, page 410:

     Even when the Indian brandished his tomahawk and seized the visited one by the hair of the head, it never seemed to be anything more than might be expected, nor did he ever appear overfierce in his threats and gestures.

   • 1946, Richard Alfred West, Electric Traction for Cranes‎, Sir Issac Newton & Sons Limited, page 70:

     Overfierce crane and wheels skidding; contactor adjustment and additional resistance required.

   • 1970, James Purdy, Jeremy's Version‎, Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 230:

     Wasn’t this suspicion of what was to happen in the very air everybody breathed, in the way each person looked at the other, in Winifred’s overfierce confidence and bragging defiance, and in Wilders’s solemn or hangdog, dispirited mien.

   • 1984, Isabelle Holland, Trelawny‎, Golden Apple Publishers, →ISBN, page 12:

     She had written that we were on a trip east and might drop by. That was all. Out where we lived people just arrived and were offered the hospitality of the house, whether it was for an hour or for a week. Even in the days of television and space flights, customs were not too different from what they had always been. Formal invitations were seldom given, times of arrival rarely set. Besides, as I realized later, by leaving the moment her letter had been mailed and setting no time of arrival, Mother had neatly forestalled any refusal. Along with the rest of the world I consistently underrated my mother. I was also ashamed of her. And my guilt over that had a lot to do with the way I acted: my pride, my secret embarrassment, my overfierce loyalty.

   • 1988, Mary Lide, Isobelle‎, Warner Books, →ISBN, page 38:

     Whether in truth the doctor had said all this, a trifle overfierce for his own meek self, I cannot say, but what he next said certainly rang true.

   • 1989, James Herbert, Sepulchre‎, George Palmer Putnam (G. P.) Putnam's Sons, Jove Books, →ISBN, page 61:

     “I'll do some checks on Magma’s rivals, also,” the German said, “see if there are any areas where competition has become overfierce."

   • 1997, Anna Kirwan, Juliet: Midsummer at Greenchapel, England, 1340‎, Aladdin Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 40:

     “And we were thus play . . . we were amusing ourselves that way, and Sir Chester Knollys of Winchelsea came up on the other side of the hedge all of a sudden and roared out — you know how he roars! — ‘Who told you Alsalabir was wicked? Show me the villain who saith as much!’ He sounded so overfierce — just the way Marguerite and 1 used to make Alsalabir the Magician act.

References

• “overfierce”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.