overstep
Americanverb (used with object)
-
oversteps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overstepped,
past participle, past
-
overstepping
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overstepsimple
-
overstepssimple
-
have oversteppedperfect
-
has oversteppedperfect
-
am oversteppingprogressive
-
are oversteppingprogressive
-
is oversteppingprogressive
-
have been oversteppingperfect progressive
-
has been oversteppingperfect progressive
Past
-
oversteppedsimple
-
had oversteppedperfect
-
was oversteppingprogressive
-
were oversteppingprogressive
-
had been oversteppingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overstep
before 1000; Middle English oversteppen, Old English ofersteppan. See over-, step
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:
Mike Kaercher, deputy director of the New York University Tax Law Center, called the Treasury’s move a welcome first step in shutting down strategies that overstep the bounds of the law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Pike testified that it was not his job “to overstep and tell him what to do. He earned that rank.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
Known to occasionally overstep with her kids by offering hugs or driving a child who missed the bus home, Justine swears she knows as little about the disappearance as everyone else in town.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2025
"I always wanted to respect that and not overstep any boundaries. Which I think she was in that way, just like her character on TV."
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2024
Relief washes over me that Mom didn’t overstep, but now I feel stupid, because I’ve just given her dirt on me that I didn’t want her to have.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Society loses sight of human reality “when the economy turns against the person or science oversteps the limits of its competence,” he writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
In the annals of strategic oversteps in America’s post-9/11 forever war, our shoeless airport security lines will go down as a footnote.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2025
US District Judge Donald Molloy agreed with TikTok, saying that it "violates the Constitution in more ways than one" and "oversteps state power".
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2023
It really comes to a head in these last episodes, when Nate oversteps with Keeley, which was inappropriate and just wrong in lots of ways.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2021
“Someone tend the babe before he oversteps himself,” the noble said to the crowd.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
However, she definitely overstepped the mark by indicating that leaving the home to her two adult children is the “decent” thing to do.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
Kavanaugh again referred the matter to his colleagues, and on Friday evening, the high court made clear that it thought the appeals panel had overstepped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Ali was found to have overstepped and Root was reprieved on 23.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
"The Court has concluded that the Board overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump," Judge Christopher Cooper ruled.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
The question blurted out like a pitcher’s fast ball, and I knew right off that I had overstepped.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Proponents of laïcité keep a close eye on the Catholic Church to ensure it isn’t overstepping any boundaries, said Jean-Marie Guénois, Vatican expert and religion editor at the French daily Le Figaro.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
"No matter what your beliefs, you should be able to do your role as a councillor without abuse from the wider public and people should be able to debate without overstepping boundaries," Madgwich said.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
I want to teach my young relative good money habits without overstepping the parents’ authority.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
Representatives for the creators of “South Park” have accused him of overstepping his authority and meddling with a protracted negotiation over their overall deal and streaming rights to the long-running cartoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
In spite of his parents’ sanction he feels that he is overstepping them, correcting a mistake they’ve made.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
