Overshadowed

How to spell overshadowed

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce overshadowed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does overshadowed mean?

1. verbMade someone or something seem less important or noticeable by being more impressive or dominant.

Overshadowed in a sentence

• Her early success was overshadowed by her sister's award-winning research.

• The good news about profits was overshadowed by reports of the factory closure.

Where does overshadowed come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built from the native English elements 'over' and 'shadow', the latter coming from the Old English 'sceadu', meaning shade or darkness, which in turn traces back to a Germanic root shared with the Old High German 'scato'. The verb 'overshadow' appears in English from the late Old English period onward, originally in the very literal sense of casting a shadow over something or covering it with shade. From there it took on the figurative meaning that dominates modern use: to make something seem less important by comparison, as a tall object darkens what stands beneath it. The past form 'overshadowed' simply adds the regular '-ed' ending, and the spelling is wholly transparent once you see that it is just 'over' joined to 'shadow' plus that ending. The only mild trap is remembering the single 'd' before the '-ed' and not doubling the consonant, since the stress does not fall on that final syllable.

How the word is built

• over- (above, beyond)
• shadow (from Old English sceadu: shade, darkness)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)