overcome

Formsovercomes, overcoming, overcame, overcome

Pluralovercomes

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To succeed in getting past or defeating an obstacle, whether physical or abstract; to get the better of it.

   With years of practice, he overcame his stutter.

   New technologies help engineers overcome problems that once seemed impossible.

   Similarconquer, surmount, beat, master, defeat

   Oppositesuccumb

   Note

   The core sense carries the word's history: Old English ofercuman, simply over- plus come, with cousins in Dutch overkomen and German überkommen. To overcome something was, quite literally, to come over it. The obstacle can be physical, abstract or even a smell. In J. Meade Falkner's Moonfleet (1898), brandy fumes overcome the moldy odor of decayed wood. The forms run overcome, overcame, overcome. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

   • Overcome derives from Old English ofercuman, formed from ofer ('over') and cuman ('come'). etymonline.com
   • Dutch overkomen and German überkommen are cognates. en.wiktionary.org
   • The word historically had a literal sense of coming or passing over something. etymonline.com
   • Moonfleet was written by J. Meade Falkner and first published in 1898. rookebooks.com
   • In Moonfleet, brandy fumes overcome the mouldy smell of decayed wood. gutenberg.org
   • The principal forms are overcome, overcame, overcome. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To recover from a difficulty or painful experience; to get over it.

   After months of counseling, she overcame the trauma of the accident.

   Communities can overcome even severe disasters when neighbors support one another.

   Similarsurvive, conquer, surmount, beat

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To win against or prevail over an opponent in a battle, contest, or similar struggle.

   The rebels overcame the garrison after a three-day siege.

   Underdogs sometimes overcome far stronger opponents through sheer preparation.

   Similarvanquish

   Note

   Where the obstacle sense faces a problem, this one faces an opponent: enemies, rivals, a garrison. Its close synonym is vanquish, and it has described battle since Malory's Le Morte Darthur (1485). Spenser's Faerie Queene (1590) shows the old passive at work. His "of whom they ouer-comen" means defeated by them, a shape worth recognizing in older verse. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • Le Morte Darthur is by Sir Thomas Malory and was first printed in 1485. searcharchives.bl.uk
   • Overcome describes victory in battle in Malory's Le Morte Darthur. gutenberg.org
   • Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene first appeared in 1590; that edition includes Book II, containing the cited passage. themorgan.org
   • The Faerie Queene, Book II, Canto XII, stanza 31, contains 'Of whom they ouer-comen', a passive construction meaning defeated by them. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   verbintransitive

   To prevail; to succeed or be victorious in the end, especially after a long struggle.

   Through every hardship, the settlers endured and overcame.

   A quiet faith that good will overcome runs through the entire novel.

   Similarprevail, triumph, win, succeed

   Oppositefail, lose

   Note

   Here the verb stands alone, with no object: the struggle is understood, and only the outcome is named. The King James Bible of 1611 has "He that overcometh," and Martin Luther King Jr. writes in 1968, "We shall overcome." That lineage gives the absolute use its solemn, rallying ring. In everyday speech, naming the obstacle with the transitive sense usually sounds more natural.

5. 5
   adjective

   Defeated or overpowered; subdued by an opposing force, condition, or strong emotion.

   Overcome by exhaustion, the climbers stopped short of the summit.

   He stood at the podium, visibly overcome, unable to finish his speech.

   Similaroverwhelmed, overpowered, stricken, defeated

   Oppositecomposed, unaffected

   Note

   The past participle has hardened into an adjective, spelled exactly as in "has overcome." It typically takes by or with: overcome by exhaustion, overcome with grief. It does not take more or most. For degree, writers use adverbs instead, as in completely overcome. The emotional use grows from the "spreading over" sense, where a feeling washes over someone.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To come or pass over something; to spread across it.

   A deep flush overcame her face when her name was called.

   Morning mists overcome the lowlands at dawn and burn off by midmorning.

   Similarovertake

   Note

   The picture is of something rolling over you, as weather does: Shakespeare's Macbeth speaks of what may "overcome us like a summer's cloud." The same image drives the everyday emotional use, "I was overcome with anger." There the feeling spreads over a person rather than beating them. That construction is usually passive and takes with or by. Overtake is the nearest synonym. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth. etc.usf.edu
   • Macbeth says “overcome us like a summer's cloud” in Shakespeare's play. folger.edu
7. 7
   noundialectalScotlandcountable

   The burden or refrain of a song; the recurring line or theme it keeps returning to.

   The fiddler led each verse, and the whole room sang the overcome.

   Its mournful overcome stayed with her long after the ballad ended.

   Similarrefrain, chorus

   Note

   Scottish English gives the word two nouns, and this one belongs to song: the line or theme a singer keeps returning to. It is built from the same over- and come as the verb, so the refrain is what comes over again with each verse. Outside Scotland, refrain or burden is the word most readers will understand.

8. 8
   noundialectalScotlandcountable or uncountable

   A surplus; an amount remaining beyond what is needed or used.

   Any overcome from the harvest went into the parish store.

   The treasurer reported a modest overcome at the year's end.

   Similarsurplus, excess, remainder, overflow

   Oppositedeficit, shortfall

   Note

   Another Scottish noun, and a more literal one: an overcome is whatever comes over and above the amount needed. It sits close to the obsolete "overflow" verb, where a harvest overcomes the barns. It counts normally, with the plural overcomes. Like the Scottish word for a refrain, it belongs to Scottish English rather than general use. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The Scottish noun overcome means a surplus or amount left over. dsl.ac.uk
   • Overcome has an obsolete verb sense meaning to overflow or surcharge, illustrated by a crop overflowing barns. en.wiktionary.org
   • The noun is countable and has the plural overcomes. en.wiktionary.org
   • Overcome also has a Scottish noun sense meaning a refrain. dsl.ac.uk

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