overcome

overcome — verb

1. to beat an opponent or deal with a difficulty so it no longer stops you.

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to beat an opponent or deal with a difficulty so it no longer stops you.

Example

After six months of therapy, Nina overcame her fear of dogs.

pattern: overcome + fear

Our school overcame an early mistake and won the final.

overcome + problem before success

Common collocations
  • overcome fear
  • overcome difficulties
  • overcome illness
  • overcome an obstacle
  • overcome the champion
Synonyms
  • get over

    more informal, especially for fear, illness, or a bad experience, not for defeating an opponent

  • surmount

    more formal and mainly used for obstacles or difficulties

  • beat

    works well for opponents, but not usually for problems like fear or illness

  • conquer

    stronger and more dramatic, often suggesting complete victory

Antonyms
  • yield to

    to stop resisting a problem, feeling, or pressure

  • succumb to

    more formal, often used when a difficulty defeats you

  • lose to

    used when the other side wins in a contest

Grammar Patterns

overcome + fear/problem/illness

overcome + opponent/team

overcome (without object when the difficulty is already clear)

Usage Note

Usually followed by a problem, fear, illness, or opponent. Intransitive use exists, but it is much less common and normally appears when the obstacle is already understood from the situation.

Common Mistakes

Nina overcame from her fear of dogs.
Nina overcame her fear of dogs.
'overcome' takes a direct object, not 'from'.
Our team overcame to the final.
Our team overcame an early mistake and reached the final.
this verb needs the thing you beat or dealt with.

2. to affect someone so strongly that they cannot think clearly or move in a normal

2.verbtransitiveC2
Definition

to affect someone so strongly that they cannot think clearly or move in a normal way.

Example

At the funeral, Marcus was overcome by grief and could not speak.

usual pattern: be overcome by + emotion

After three days without sleep, the driver was overcome by exhaustion.

Common collocations
  • be overcome by grief
  • be overcome by smoke
  • be overcome by exhaustion
  • be overcome by panic
  • be overcome by heat
Synonyms
  • overwhelm

    the closest everyday word for being hit by a very strong feeling or force

  • overpower

    often stresses strong physical or emotional force

  • disable

    focuses more on making action impossible than on strong feeling

Antonyms
  • recover

    to return to normal control after strong feeling or physical weakness

  • withstand

    to stay able to act despite pressure, heat, pain, or emotion

Grammar Patterns

be overcome by + emotion/smoke/heat/exhaustion

something + overcome + person

Usage Note

Usually passive with 'by' plus an emotion or physical condition such as grief, smoke, heat, or tiredness. Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is about losing normal control, not successfully dealing with something.

Common Mistakes

Marcus was overcome of grief.
Marcus was overcome by grief.
use 'by' after the passive form.
The smoke overcame to the hikers.
The smoke overcame the hikers.
in the active pattern, the affected people are the direct object.

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Overcome' is broad: it can mean dealing successfully with a problem such as fear, illness, or damage, and it can also mean defeating an opponent. 'Get over' is more informal and is especially common for illness, shock, or sadness, not for winning a contest. 'Surmount' is more formal and is mainly used for obstacles rather than people. 'Beat' is the most natural choice for games, races, and fights, but it does not usually fit inner struggles such as fear. You can overcome stage fright, get over a cold, surmount a major obstacle, and beat the other team.

overcome ↗get oversurmountbeat ↗

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

This verb was formed in Old English from 'over' and 'come'. The original idea was literally coming over or getting above something. Over time, English extended it to winning against an enemy, handling a difficulty, and later being strongly affected by emotion, smoke, or physical weakness.