overcome
verb · adjective
Simple meaning
To succeed in dealing with a problem or difficulty.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohverkuhmSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊvɚkəm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of.
transitive
To win against or prevail over in some sort of battle, contest, etc.
transitive
To recover from (a difficulty), to get over.
Get on top of; deal with successfully
Win a victory over
To come or pass over; to spread over.
adjective
That has been overcome, prevailed over.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To surmount (a physical or abstract obstacle); to prevail over, to get the better of.
Used this way, overcome is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use overcome
- “You must overcome all difficulties.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.