overestimate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to estimate at too high a value, amount, rate, or the like.
Don't overestimate the car's trade-in value.
-
to hold in too great esteem or to expect too much from.
Don't overestimate him—he's no smarter than you are.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
- overestimation noun
Etymology
Origin of overestimate
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.
As Amara’s Law says, we overestimate a technology’s short-term impact and underestimate its long-term effects.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026
Armour's letter said that education was facing a gap of £250m, and he could not "overestimate the financial challenge we face in seeking to address our funding gap".
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026
Ellenbogen: I don’t think you can overestimate the importance of the marginal cost of intelligence heading to zero, and the opportunity, agility, and efficiency it will create in service and knowledge work.
From Barron's • Jan. 9, 2026
Because plants depend on this process to access nitrogen, the overestimate has meaningful consequences.
From Science Daily • Jan. 5, 2026
Yet we should not overestimate the importance of such external relations.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
