1. the act or practice of designing or building something with more complexity, features, or precision than necessary for its intended purpose
Usage: informal; commonly used in technology, software development, and engineering contexts

1. to design or build something with unnecessary complexity or features beyond what is required
Usage: informal; third-person singular present: overengineers; past tense: overengineered; present participle: overengineering

Examples

• The startup was accused of overengineering their product when a simpler solution would have worked just as well.
• Don't overengineer the system—keep it as simple as possible while meeting the core requirements.
• Overengineering often leads to higher costs and longer development times.
• The team's overengineering of the website made it slower and harder to maintain.
• She tends to overengineer solutions, adding features that users will never need.
• Avoiding overengineering is key to delivering products on time and within budget.