overreaches

Extends beyond grasp

Overreaches means extends too far, especially in ambition or authority.

Someone who overreaches grasps for more than they can hold: The company overreaches when it tries to compete in markets it doesn't understand.

The word often implies failure as a consequence—reaching beyond one's grasp and losing what was already secure.

authority

oversteps

Goes past boundaries

transgresses · usurps · trespasses · violates · overrules · abuse · jurisdiction · mandate · bounds · limits

ambition

hubris

Ruinous excessive confidence

aggrandizement · expansionism · imperialism · overextension · grasping · presumptuous · overconfident · megalomaniac · grandiose · Icarus

failure

backfires

Produces opposite effect

missteps · stumbles · falters · fumbles · overplays · defeat · debacle · fiasco · downfall · comeuppance

Opposites
ambition/effort scope

overreachesundershoots

Falls short of target

holds back · underachieves · settles · falls short · underperforms

risk-taking behavior

overreacheserrs on the side of caution

Acts with excessive prudence

retreats · withdraws · refrains · abstains

grasp vs. restraint

overreachesstays in one's lane

Refrains from interfering

defers · yields · relinquishes · lets go

Phrases
Family

overreach, overreaching, overreached, overreachers, overreacher

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G