overbroad

overbroad — adjective

  • overbroadpositive
  • more overbroadcomparative
  • most overbroadsuperlative

1. describes a rule, law, statement, or criticism that covers too many different si

1.形容詞C1
釋義

describes a rule, law, statement, or criticism that covers too many different situations, people, or things, so that it becomes unfair, inaccurate, or ineffective when looked at in individual cases.

例句

Felipe argued that the proposed regulation was overbroad and would hurt small businesses.

collocation: overbroad regulation / overbroad law

Ezra felt the new policy was overbroad by limiting social media use for all employees.

同義詞
  • overly broad

    the neutral paraphrase; less technical than 'overbroad'

  • sweeping

    stronger critical tone, especially in 'sweeping generalization' or 'sweeping statement'

  • excessively general

    focuses on lack of specificity rather than scope of application

  • overly inclusive

    more technical register, common in legal writing about classification

反義詞
  • narrow

    opposite in terms of scope or range of application

  • precise

    opposite in terms of exactness and specificity

文法句型

overbroad + noun

be + overbroad

用法筆記

Most common in legal and policy discussions, where it carries a critical tone — it implies a rule or statement is problematically wide in scope, not just broad. Frequently modifies nouns such as 'law', 'regulation', 'definition', 'generalization', or 'policy'.

常見錯誤

❌This pair of trousers is overbroad for me.
✅These trousers are too wide for me.
💡'overbroad' is not used for physical size or clothing fit; it describes laws, rules, or general statements that cover too much.
❌The overbroad river flooded the village.
✅The wide river flooded the village.
💡'overbroad' does not describe physical width; use 'wide' or 'broad' for physical dimensions.