overwrite
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to write in too elaborate, burdensome, diffuse, or prolix a style.
He overwrites his essays to the point of absurdity.
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to write in excess of the requirements, especially so as to defeat the original intention.
That young playwright tends to overwrite her big scenes.
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to write on or over; cover with writing.
a flyleaf overwritten with a dedication.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to write (something) in an excessively ornate or prolix style
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to write too much about (someone or something)
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to write on top of (other writing)
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to record on a storage medium, such as a magnetic disk, thus destroying what was originally recorded there
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overwritesimple
-
overwritessimple
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have overwrittenperfect
-
has overwrittenperfect
-
am overwritingprogressive
-
are overwritingprogressive
-
is overwritingprogressive
-
have been overwritingperfect progressive
-
has been overwritingperfect progressive
Past
-
overwrotesimple
-
had overwrittenperfect
-
was overwritingprogressive
-
were overwritingprogressive
-
had been overwritingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overwrite
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.
See Examples For:
"What we've tried to do is respect those tunes and not overwrite them, the melodies stay central, but they're presented differently. That sense of respect is something people really seem to respond to," Coyle explained.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026
Depending on the rules you’ve set for yourself, this might be the moment for a small, intentional grocery shop: a handful of items meant to support what’s already in your kitchen, not overwrite it.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026
A charger sold in the UK by Project EV allowed researchers to overwrite its firmware.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023
At first, the coalition seemed to beat the odds: Allies praised its pledge to overwrite postwar pacifism with military revitalization.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2023
This will overwrite the Unix system's old temprc file.
From Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet by Electronic Frontier Foundation
That is, until another party overwrites his code, transforming him into the best reason for “Romulus” to exist.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2025
It overwrites their personhood, their lived experience, the degree to which they wish to be medicated.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2020
His ebullient Schützenstrasse Quarter complex, built on the site of the former death strip, completely overwrites the area’s deadly history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2018
Employing the mismatched spoils of history, ruin porn ignores and overwrites the voices of those who still call Detroit home.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 15, 2016
Regardless of the level of language acquired, language overwrites the senses.
From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai
He waxed poetic when it didn’t help his prose and overwrote shamelessly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
Anonymous: So powerful, thank you, that one selfless gesture overwrote an entire relationship.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2022
So many lesser shocks so quickly overwrote it.
From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2019
Therefore, in certain circumstances, it accidentally overwrote some adjacent memory it wasn’t supposed to be using.
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2017
The kitsch and childish can become dark and adult: just look at Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, which overwrote a generation’s memory of that superhero’s camp 1960s TV incarnation.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 2, 2016
After queuing, Southern said her mum was told by staff they could not find her booking and discovered her travel agents had "overwritten" it.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026
“Mask & Bone” by Jamesie Fournier is a slightly overwritten but otherwise masterly unmasking of ordinary family life that reveals ancient secrets and generational trauma of the supernatural kind.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Delegated lines of authority are muddied, overwritten by social contracts among agency leaders, and operations suffer huge bottlenecks because no one—often not even the political appointees—knows if they have the authority to make decisions.
From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2025
Before he abandons his original directive entirely, an effect of it being overwritten by other programming, he warns Rain that she won’t see him like a child anymore.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2024
The letter itself was virtually endless in length, overwritten, teaching, repetitious, opinionated, remonstrative, condescending, embarrassing—and filled, to a surfeit, with affection.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
But such powerful dramas can have a habit of overwriting history - and Sheen’s performance could change forever how Prince Andrew will be remembered.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2024
He knows that just with a smile, with a look, he brings so much to it, and he really helped shape it so that we weren’t overwriting that character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2022
The overwriting in this novel only rarely bothered me.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2021
I think that the moment you start offering up some narrative centered upon "Oh feel sorry for me" you are then overwriting the story.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2019
Because of this overwriting feature, logs were available to Finnell only for the relatively short period from October 1, 2001 to October 3, 2001.
From Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) Ruling by United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Pennsylvania
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.
