overrate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overrates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overrated,
past participle, past
-
overrating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overratesimple
-
overratessimple
-
have overratedperfect
-
has overratedperfect
-
am overratingprogressive
-
are overratingprogressive
-
is overratingprogressive
-
have been overratingperfect progressive
-
has been overratingperfect progressive
Past
-
overratedsimple
-
had overratedperfect
-
was overratingprogressive
-
were overratingprogressive
-
had been overratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overrate
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:
When a movement loses its ability to shape events, it begins to overrate the importance of symbols.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
"Be careful not to overrate the Russia-China relationship," says Mr Østhagen.
From BBC ● May 23, 2025
Still, it's important not to overrate what Carlson's leaving means for Fox News.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2023
“It is hard to overrate the importance of the information received through Blake,” Sergei Ivanov, an official for the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, told Russian media in 2007.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2020
It is impossible to overrate the importance of this self-government; and therefore it is impossible to overrate the importance of this first step,—the training to patience.
From Household Education by Harriet Martineau
He also says his ideas are more relevant today than ever — especially as Americans develop an anti-science culture that, among other things, drastically overrates the significance of IQ tests.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2024
Georgetown, which has played the nation's toughest schedule according to the RPI, is ranked 12th despite a 21-10 record, which probably overrates them by 10-20 spots.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2011
Sometimes it seems that Steiner overrates the importance of language; but to him the word is the very essence of humanity.
From Time Magazine Archive
Think of all the adjectives that make for admiration, and you have scarce employed one that overrates the dignified and stately air of the High Street of Marlborough.
From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
Nay, it is greatly overrated; and it is our selfishness which overrates it.
From Walden by Henry David Thoreau
But if she is a delightful, gritty inspiration to some, Moses has always been an overrated “primitive” kept aloft by a winning backstory to others, including many art-world gatekeepers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 11, 2026
Last but not least, Lincoln Riley is an overrated head football coach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2026
Everyone is concentrating on social media, and I think it’s overrated.
From Slate ● Nov. 19, 2025
Stablecoin’s run is even more impressive given that its stability is overrated.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2025
“When you have seen more of this country, I am afraid you will think you have overrated Hartfield. Surry is full of beauties.”
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
Lastly, Lee said that the Federal Reserve’s next meeting not being until September will also help support stocks, noting that markets are currently overrating the chances of an interest-rate hike happening next month.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
Or am I overrating my own importance as a parent and underrating the resilience kids can have?
From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2020
Be wary of overrating Ballage’s 123-yard rushing performance from Week 15.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 21, 2018
Mike Mamula, the former mid-rate NFL linebacker who wowed the Eagles into making him the No7 overall pick in 1995 after a lights-out combine, remains the cautionary tale of overrating players on measurables alone.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 1, 2016
His grand mistake consisted in overrating the strength of democratic influences, and in supposing that, by violent measures, he could overturn a strong military government.
From A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon For the Use of Schools and Colleges by John Lord
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.
