Outweighed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To possess greater mass or importance compared to another entity
2. To surpass in significance or influence when juxtaposed with something else
3. To have more physical weight or greater importance than another thing

Etymology: "Outweighed" is the past tense and past participle of "outweigh," a verb built from the prefix "out-" and "weigh." The prefix comes from Old English "ūt," meaning "outside" or "beyond," so the compound originally carried the literal sense of exceeding something on a set of scales. The verb "weigh" descends from Old English "wegan," which traces back to Proto-Germanic roots connected with carrying and lifting, and it has been sharing its sense of heaviness with its ancestors for well over a thousand years. Here the figurative meaning is the more striking development. A thing that outweighs another in the physical sense is heavier, but the same verb now describes importance, value, or influence: a benefit outweighs a cost even though nothing is being measured on a balance. The shift from measuring objects to judging ideas is a neat example of how English turned a concrete action into an abstract judgment.

Synonyms: overwhelmed, surpassed, exceeded, outnumbered, overpowered

Antonyms: underestimated, underrated, failed, lost, defeated