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.
Goes past boundaries
- encroachesGradually intrudes on boundaries
- infringesBreaches established limits
- exceedsGoes past a boundary
- transgressesBreaks a rule
usurps · trespasses · violates · overrules · abuse · jurisdiction · mandate · bounds
Ruinous excessive confidence
- overambitiousExcessively driven toward goals
- power-hungryObsessed with gaining control
- vaultingLeaping over something
- aggrandizementIncrease in power/status
expansionism · imperialism · overextension · grasping · presumptuous · overconfident · megalomaniac · grandiose
oversteps
Goes past boundaries
- encroachesGradually intrudes on boundaries
- infringesBreaches established limits
- exceedsGoes past a boundary
transgresses · usurps · trespasses · violates · overrules · abuse · jurisdiction · mandate · bounds · limits
hubris
Ruinous excessive confidence
- overambitiousExcessively driven toward goals
- power-hungryObsessed with gaining control
- vaultingLeaping over something
aggrandizement · expansionism · imperialism · overextension · grasping · presumptuous · overconfident · megalomaniac · grandiose · Icarus
backfires
Produces opposite effect
- collapsesSuddenly falls inward
- blundersSerious mistakes from carelessness
- miscalculatesFigures incorrectly
missteps · stumbles · falters · fumbles · overplays · defeat · debacle · fiasco · downfall · comeuppance
overreachesundershoots
Falls short of target
holds back · underachieves · settles · falls short · underperforms
overreachesstays in one's lane
Refrains from interfering
defers · yields · relinquishes · lets go
- federal overreachExcessive national government authority
- executive overreachAuthority exceeding its limits
overreach, overreaching, overreached, overreachers, overreacher