overwrought
Emotionally wound up
Overwrought means excessively agitated or elaborate.
A person who is overwrought is emotionally overwhelmed, worked up to the point of losing composure: She was overwrought after hearing the news.
The word also describes prose, décor, or performances that try too hard—overworked, overly ornate, or melodramatic: The film's overwrought dialogue made it hard to take seriously.
Deeply agitated by grief
- agitatedEmotionally disturbed, restless
- hystericalEmotionally out of control
- beside oneselfOverwhelmed by intense emotion
- franticWildly anxious or desperate
worked up · upset · tearful · anguished · overwhelmed · dramatic · histrionic · melodramatic
Uneasy and apprehensive
- worriedTroubled by uncertainty
- tenseStrained or nervous
- stressedOverwhelmed by pressure
- jitteryAnxiously restless
edgy · fretful · apprehensive · on edge · high-strung · overwound · agitated · restless
Excessively ornate or elaborate
- rococoExcessively elaborate in style
- floridExcessively ornate or ruddy
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
- overdecoratedExcessively adorned
fussy · overdone · overelaborate · gilded · ornamental · ostentatious · excessive · extravagant
distraught
Deeply agitated by grief
- agitatedEmotionally disturbed, restless
- hystericalEmotionally out of control
- beside oneselfOverwhelmed by intense emotion
frantic · worked up · upset · tearful · anguished · overwhelmed · dramatic · histrionic · melodramatic · overemotional
nervous
Uneasy and apprehensive
jittery · edgy · fretful · apprehensive · on edge · high-strung · overwound · agitated · restless · panicky
baroque
Excessively ornate or elaborate
- rococoExcessively elaborate in style
- floridExcessively ornate or ruddy
- embellishedDecorated or exaggerated
overdecorated · fussy · overdone · overelaborate · gilded · ornamental · ostentatious · excessive · extravagant · busy
forced
Made to occur unwillingly
- laboredRequiring great exertion
- contrivedDeliberately manufactured, unnatural
- stiltedUnnaturally formal in expression
artificial · unnatural · stiff · heavy-handed · clunky · mannered · belabored · tortured · studied · affected
- emotionaldramatic, hysterical, weepy, tearful, melodramatic
- expressivenessexpressive, eloquent, emotive, articulate, demonstrative
- high dramamelodrama, soap opera, theatrics, histrionics, tantrums
- melodramatichistrionic, theatrical, exaggerated, dramatic, hammy
- ornateornate, elaborate, embellished, decorative, ornamental
- overreactfreak out, panic, explode, blow up, meltdown
overwroughtunderstated
Deliberately minimized in expression
restrained · simple · subdued · plain · austere
- overwrought proseExcessively elaborate writing
worker, working, workers, overworked, overwork, reworking, wrought, overworking, overworks