overeagerness
Definition
Noun: The state or quality of being excessively eager, keen, or enthusiastic, often to a degree that is inappropriate or counterproductive.
Usage Examples
- (Excessive enthusiasm that caused errors.)
- (Too much eagerness leading to negative outcomes.)
- (An excessive desire to assist that may be unwanted.)
Advanced Usage
"show overeagerness": to display excessive keenness.
- The candidate showed overeagerness during the interview by interrupting the panel repeatedly. (Demonstrated too much enthusiasm in an unprofessional manner.)
"act with overeagerness": to behave in a way that is overly eager.
- The dog acted with overeagerness, jumping on every visitor. (Behaved with excessive excitement.)
Variants and Related Words
Overeager (adj): excessively eager or keen.
- The overeager student answered every question before the teacher finished asking. (Too enthusiastic in responding.)
Eagerness (n): the quality of being keen or enthusiastic.
- Her eagerness to learn new skills was evident in her attentive attitude. (Positive enthusiasm.)
Synonyms
- Excessive zeal: too much fervour or passion.
- Overenthusiasm: an extreme level of excitement or interest.
- Impetuosity: acting or done quickly without thought or care.
Related Idioms
Bite off more than one can chew: to take on a task that is too big or difficult due to overeagerness.
- His overeagerness to volunteer for every project made him bite off more than he could chew. (Took on too much because of excessive eagerness.)
Jump the gun: to act prematurely because of overeagerness.
- The company jumped the gun by launching the product early, and it failed due to bugs. (Acted too soon out of excessive eagerness.)