Overexpressing

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Producing an excessive amount of a substance or effect beyond normal levels; articulating thoughts or feelings too strongly or frequently; displaying or emphasizing a trait more than usual
2. Generating or synthesizing a higher-than-average quantity of a molecule or signal; communicating ideas or emotions in a way that is amplified or intensified; showing or highlighting a characteristic with great intensity
3. Creating more copies or expression of a gene, protein, or signal than typical; expressing opinions or emotions in an exaggerated or overly frequent manner; accentuating an attribute beyond its usual presentation

Etymology: Overexpress is simply the prefix over- joined to express, so the history of the verb is really the history of two parts. Over- descends from Old English "ofer", which goes back through Proto-Germanic "uberi" to the same Indo-European root that gave Latin "super" and Greek "hyper". Express, the older half, came into English from Latin "exprimere", meaning to press or squeeze out, which is why its earliest senses were physical, like pressing juice from fruit, before they came to mean stating a thought. The compound overexpress therefore means pressing or stating something beyond the proper measure. Its newer, technical sense, in which a gene or protein is produced in greater-than-normal amounts, follows the same logic: the cell squeezes out more of a product than usual. The same stretch of the verb also carries a figurative meaning, showing a feeling or quality with more intensity than is expected.

Synonyms: overproducing, overactivating, amplifying

Antonyms: underexpressing, suppressing