overwrought.

So emotionally agitated or strained that calm thinking becomes difficult.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• an overwrought parent
• become overwrought
• sound overwrought

On the page

The overwrought father could not remember which hospital had called.

By midnight, she was too overwrought to interpret another message sensibly.

He dismissed her as overwrought instead of checking the warning himself.

Usage notes

Primary category: fear. Can arise from fear, grief, or excitement; stronger than ordinary nervousness. Not a diagnosis. Gradable with more/most; no inflectional endings normally needed.