overshadow
Americanverb (used with object)
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to be more important or significant by comparison.
For years he overshadowed his brother.
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to cast a shadow over; cover with shadows, clouds, darkness, etc.; darken or obscure.
clouds overshadowing the moon.
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to make sad or hang heavily over; cast a pall on.
a disappointment that overshadowed their last years.
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Archaic. to shelter or protect.
verb
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to render insignificant or less important in comparison
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to cast a shadow or gloom over
Other Word Forms
- overshadower noun
- overshadowingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of overshadow
before 900; Middle English overshadewen, Old English ofersceadwian. See over-, shadow
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While El Barbry's income is growing, Willment explains the success of streamers who have built audiences "overshadows" the fact that "thousands, if not millions of people" are earning nothing, trying to break through.
From BBC
Here are three changes that have been overshadowed.
From Barron's
Then-president Robert Maynard Hutchins worried college football was spinning out of control, overshadowing academic priorities.
Those developments overshadowed some of Adobe’s financial highlights.
From MarketWatch
Although it received a record-breaking 16 nominations, the film has been largely overshadowed through much of awards season by Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller “One Battle After Another.”
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
