over-refinev.
/ˌəʊvərᵻˈfʌɪn/, U.S. /ˈˌoʊvə(r)rəˈfaɪn/, /ˈˌoʊvə(r)riˈfaɪn/ 1. transitive. To refine too much; to make too sophisticated; to treat with too much subtlety.
ΚΠ
1732 D. Waterland Christianity vindicated against Infidelity 48 The Mysticks followed, and deviated in like manner with the former, by over-refining and subtilizing plain Things.
1835 New-Eng. Mag. 9 233 He will refine and over-refine an odd idea, till one fairly laughs out in admiration of its impalpable, transparent, glittering, fluttering exility!
1927 A. E. Avey Function & Forms of Thought Pref. p. vii To many this will seem like overrefining the process of thought, beyond what elementary students will need or be able to appreciate.
2. intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > discernment, discrimination > discern, discriminate [verb (intransitive)] > employing subtlety > excessively
over-refine1832
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > fastidiousness > be fastidious [verb (intransitive)] > over-refine
over-refine1832
1832 E. Bulwer-Lytton Eugene Aram II. iii. xi. 104 Perhaps I over refine.
1845 P. M. Latham Lect. Clin. Med. I. xii. 239 I am not over-refining in this matter.
a1891 H. Melville At Hostelry in Coll. Poems (1947) vii. 332 The subtle brain, convolved in snare, Inferring and over-refining there.
1990 Times (Nexis) 1 Dec. A potato dish called pan haggerty..was all right, but was also typical, in its execution, of the kitchen's tendency to over-refine.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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