overdress
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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overdresses,
present (3rd person singular)
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overdressed,
past participle, past
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overdressing
present participle
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to dress with too much display, finery, or formality.
He certainly overdressed for the occasion.
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to put excessive clothing on.
She tends to overdress her children.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overdresssimple
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overdressessimple
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have overdressedperfect
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has overdressedperfect
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am overdressingprogressive
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are overdressingprogressive
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is overdressingprogressive
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have been overdressingperfect progressive
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has been overdressingperfect progressive
Past
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overdressedsimple
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had overdressedperfect
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was overdressingprogressive
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were overdressingprogressive
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had been overdressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overdress
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:
"I was wearing formal clothing – that taught me not to overdress in hot weather."
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
“It’s just flagrantly obnoxious to overdress in a workplace situation, especially when you’re a junior member,” said Gunn, best known for being a clear-eyed mentor on the fashion-design competition show “Project Runway.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
Still, it’s hard to resist the temptation to overdress.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2020
Like the also-new Millie’s in Spring Valley, the Salt Line is a fish house that doesn’t overdress for success.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 28, 2017
To suit the dress demands the actor's art, Yet there are some who overdress the part.
From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Dutton Cook
As the head of a luxury marketing agency who overdresses, smokes, mocks political correctness and oozes meanness, she is the extreme version of the “Parisienne,” disseminating style and scorn in equal measure.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2020
She still overdresses, and makes eyes, and she nudges those who sit next her at table, but she is good-natured, says whatever comes into her head, and has a strong sense of humor.
From Unleavened Bread by Robert Grant
Court ladies in pale-yellow bodices and looped overdresses over white.
From Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Constance D'Arcy Mackay
Much fine stitchery was put into the fine white undergarments of that time, and the overdresses of both men and women became stiff with gold thread and jewels.
From Chats on Old Lace and Needlework by Emily Leigh Lowes
The eight bridesmaids wore dresses of white corded silk, alike in every particular, with overdresses of white illusion, sashes of white silk arranged in a succession of loops from the waist downward, forming graceful drapery.
From Perley's Reminiscences, v. 1-2 of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis by Benjamin Perley Poore
But many of us are still loyal to sweatpants, and perhaps less inclined to participate in the formal, overdressed dining rituals of our pre-pandemic lives.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2022
A skyscraper of a man with dizzying charisma, Mr. Ellis, 6-foot-3, had overdressed for the day in jeans, a Comme des Garçons striped shirt, a slate jacket and sneakers the blinding white of new veneers.
From New York Times ● Oct. 22, 2021
All four family members are overdressed throughout but it is Moira and David who make it an artform.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 16, 2020
The threads, no pieces, of Chilean crab in the Cobb salad tasted watery, while the lettuce was overdressed until limp and the egg overcooked to dry-yolked and rubbery.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2019
“Hummingbirds! Which, let’s face it, are pretty much just overdressed flies. But a bunch of us crows together, guess what we get to be called?”
From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate
Doing the most: People made up for the past few years by overdressing in 2022.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2022
We're overdressing her all the time, which I adore because it's not realistic at all, and we can do it and Darren loves it.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2022
Avoid the gruesome pitfalls of overdressing or underdressing.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2012
Saturday-Night Outfit: It depends where, but I always believe in overdressing.
From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2010
She had a sort of natural instinct which kept her from overdressing, and she always looked the picture of neatness.
From Good Luck by L. T. Meade
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