Greek word · G5250

ὑπερπλεονάζω

hyperpleonazō

to abound

'To be present in great abundance, to overflow beyond measure.' The base verb pleonazō means 'to become more, increase, have more than enough'. The prefix hyper- ('over, beyond') pushes it past any normal measure.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. · Updated October 23, 2026

What it means

ὑπερ-πλεονάζω

to abound exceedingly: 1 Timothy 1:14 (Ps Sol 5:19; Herm., Mand., v, 2, 5).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Timothy 1:14

Range of meaning: 'To be present in great abundance, to overflow beyond measure.' The base verb pleonazō means 'to become more, increase, have more than enough'. The prefix hyper- ('over, beyond') pushes it past any normal measure.
Against the English: KJV 'was exceeding abundant', WEB 'abounded exceedingly', YLT 'exceedingly abound', NASB 'was more than abundant'. These keep the double intensity. BSB and ESV 'overflowed' give a good picture but drop the 'over-and-beyond' prefix. NIV 'poured out on me abundantly' turns it into an action done to Paul and adds the picture of pouring.
Used elsewhere in the period: This word occurs only here in the New Testament and is very rare anywhere in Greek. BDAG cites the Psalms of Solomon 5:16 (1st century BC), where it means having too much, and the Shepherd of Hermas (Mandate 5.2.5), where it describes something overfilling a space. Paul is known for building words with hyper-, such as hyperperisseuō, 'super-abound', in Rom 5:20 and 2 Cor 7:4, and hyperekperissou, 'far beyond all measure', in Eph 3:20 and 1 Thess 3:10. Rom 5:20 is the closest idea: 'where sin increased (epleonasen, the same root), grace abounded all the more.'

Where it appears

1 Timothy · 1

1 Timothy 1:14 ὑπερεπλεόνασεν Surpassingly increased

And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

Here: Comes first in the sentence for emphasis. It is 'to increase, to be more than enough' (pleonazō) with 'over, beyond' (hyper) added on top: grace was beyond more-than-enough. The past tense looks back at one event, Paul's turning to Christ, and does not describe an ongoing process.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.