overcharge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overcharges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcharged,
past participle, past
-
overcharging
present participle
-
to charge (a purchaser) too high a price.
When the manager realized we'd been overcharged, she gave us a credit for the difference.
-
to fill too full; overload.
-
to exaggerate.
to overcharge the importance of ancestry.
verb (used without object)
-
overcharges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcharged,
past participle, past
-
overcharging
present participle
noun
-
a charge in excess of a stated or just price.
-
an act of overcharging.
-
an excessive load.
verb
-
to charge too much
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(tr) to fill or load beyond capacity
-
literary another word for exaggerate
noun
-
an excessive price or charge
-
an excessive load
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overchargesimple
-
overchargessimple
-
have overchargedperfect
-
has overchargedperfect
-
am overchargingprogressive
-
are overchargingprogressive
-
is overchargingprogressive
-
have been overchargingperfect progressive
-
has been overchargingperfect progressive
Past
-
overchargedsimple
-
had overchargedperfect
-
was overchargingprogressive
-
were overchargingprogressive
-
had been overchargingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overcharge
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at over-, charge
Explanation
If a shopkeeper overcharges you, they ask you to pay too much for something. To overcharge isn't very honest, but it's not usually illegal either. Sometimes it's obvious that someone is trying to overcharge you: if the taxi driver announces that you owe her a hundred dollars after driving a route that usually costs about twenty, you can call that a blatant overcharge. In other cases, you may not realize until much later. It's not uncommon for salespeople to overcharge tourists, for example, making them pay too much money because they don't know any better.
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:
The Thai authorities have deployed hundreds of police officers to keep an eye on the city's entertainment zones, and warned local businesses not to overcharge their American guests.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
“It is reprehensible to overcharge and take advantage of wildfire victims who were in desperate need of housing as they fled their homes from raging fires last year,” Los Angeles County Dist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Lawyers for the plaintiffs estimated that the lack of competition in the repair market allowed dealers to overcharge by $190 million to $387 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
The lack of transparency enables PBMs to overcharge patients and health plans.
From Salon ● May 31, 2025
On page 291, the comma after "I don't want to overcharge you" was replaced with a period.
From A Knight on Wheels by Ian Hay
And earlier this year, a jury found that Live Nation was an illegal monopoly, following years of criticism that the company stifles competition and overcharges fans, but analysts say a breakup is unlikely.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
“The companies pulled their punches, and one company was left being the sole bidder on the contract and that involved a lot of overcharges to the good people of Texas,” Slater said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
It seeks compensation for overcharges, plus fees and other damages, and a trial by jury.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 13, 2024
Bradshaw is suing Clark and more than a dozen other attorneys over their handling of a separate lawsuit stemming from DWP billing overcharges, alleging his due processes were violated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Rents would not affect him; he would be free from landladies' overcharges.
From The Red Rat's Daughter by Guy Boothby
"We've tried very hard to try and produce it, we've overcharged it as much as we can... We were unsuccessful in generating chromium-6."
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
Which? claims that since 2015 Apple has effectively locked users into its services and overcharged them as a result.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
There was no diligent retailer in the Philippines who realized they overcharged you for an eBay or Amazon purchase you had forgotten you made years ago, and miraculously wanted to make you whole.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 25, 2026
In 2020 the FCC fined T-Mobile $200 million after investigators determined its recently acquired Sprint subsidiary had overcharged Lifeline.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026
One time I tried to explain a cable TV bill to my mom when she thought she had been overcharged.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
"Half, 86, involved overcharging, and another 35 involved unlicensed operators, and there were probably more because often tourists don't complain," she said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
I believe this is a legitimate case of timeshare overcharging.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026
“You had a lot of dealerships in the Covid era that were overcharging, to say the least,” said Eric Frehsée, president of the Tamaroff Group in the Detroit area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
The batteries become a risk when they enter thermal runaway, a state that can be triggered by overcharging, manufacturing errors or physical damage that can lead to fire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2025
The prosecutor is also free to file more charges against a defendant than can realistically be proven in court, so long as probable cause arguably exists—a practice known as overcharging.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
