Meaning & use
overarching
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Meaning
adjectivebefore a noun
Covering and connecting many separate parts, so that it counts as the broadest or most important element.
Grammar: Sits before the noun it describes: an overarching aim, not 'the aim is overarching'.
Patterns
- an overarching goal
- an overarching theme
The overarching goal of the project is to cut waste.
An overarching theme of the novel is the cost of silence.
The school adopted an overarching policy on respect.
Common combinations
- overarching goal
- Our overarching goal is to keep every student safe.
- overarching theme
- Loss is the overarching theme of her poems.
- overarching principle
- Fairness is the overarching principle behind the rules.
- overarching strategy
- The overarching strategy was to grow slowly and avoid debt.
- overarching framework
- The treaty provides an overarching framework for trade.
Synonyms and how they differ
- comprehensive
- Comprehensive stresses that nothing is left out, while overarching stresses that something sits above and unites the rest.
- all-embracing
- All-embracing is more literary and suggests warmth or inclusiveness, whereas overarching is neutral and analytical.
- central
- Central points to the middle of something, not to the idea of governing many smaller parts.
- umbrella
- As a modifier, umbrella is more informal and is used for a group or body that shelters others, as in an umbrella organization.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: overarching or overreaching?
overarching vs overreaching
Overreaching means trying to do more than is wise or allowed, which is unrelated to overarching.
Practice
The committee agreed on an ___ aim, and each department then chose its own smaller tasks.
Choose one answer.
Overarching describes a broad aim that governs smaller ones; overlapping would mean the aims share parts, not that one sits above the others.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “overarching”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.