verb
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to build over or on top of
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to erect too many buildings in (an area)
-
to build too large or elaborately
Etymology
Origin of overbuild
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:
“AI is in the midst of a capex boom with genuine risks: uncertain monetization, potential overbuild, shortening asset lives, and growing reliance on debt.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026
While this overbuild of capacity eventually proved useful, it initially led to poor returns on invested capital as telecom companies poured billions into infrastructure that sat idle for many years.
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
When you are in this quarterly apparel fashion business, you overbuild and you are discounting.
From The Verge ● Jul. 4, 2022
In response, a large body of exercise science shows, our bodies initiate a variety of cellular mechanisms that fix the tears and strains and, in most cases, overbuild the affected parts.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2022
“What the models said was dramatically overbuild solar, and either export it when you have excess production or curtailment,” said Edward Randolph, who leads the regulatory agency’s energy division.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2019
There’s also been concern that the borrowing blitz results in overbuilding that could saddle debt investors with big losses.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
That’s costing companies more to borrow, while concern has been growing about potential data-center overbuilding and what U.S. companies might achieve from those investments.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 26, 2026
The business had been weakened by years of overbuilding, then battered by the pandemic as thousands of elderly residents died.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Expect lower home prices and a bigger risk of overbuilding in the decades ahead, according to a new study.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
And these technological therapies would have to be constructed, she said, so that they don’t invite their own side effects, like, say, overbuilding one neural network.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
That could be a worrisome sign for capital spending on AI going forward, signaling some of tech’s biggest spenders believe they have overbuilt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Should the departure continue, or even increase, experts say it’s still not likely L.A. will ever be overbuilt like some of its Rust Belt counterparts due to pent-up demand that has never quite been met.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
Only an overbuilt city can offer tenants security and freedom.
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2024
By the end, the playing space, like the once pristine frontier, is so overbuilt you can see little else.
From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024
On the immediate local front, reports showed that rental rates for apartments in Odessa had dropped 10 percent and occupancy rates 8 percent, boding disaster for a market that was woefully overbuilt from the boom.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
