overcharge
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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)
noun
-
a charge in excess of a stated or just price.
-
an act of overcharging.
-
an excessive load.
verb
-
to charge too much
-
(tr) to fill or load beyond capacity
-
literary another word for exaggerate
noun
-
an excessive price or charge
-
an excessive load
Other Word Forms
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.
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 HUD figure, which is based on Census data for typical apartment rents in an area, is used to ensure landlords cannot overcharge low-income residents with housing choice vouchers.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2025
In practice, many insurers overcharge the federal government hundreds of billions of dollars in inflated estimates, often by adding diagnosis codes that make individuals appear sicker on paper than they are in reality.
From Salon • Sep. 3, 2024
Due to this capture, Google is able to overcharge text-ad clients and shroud its actual terms in secrecy in a way that it hasn’t with more visually oriented ads.
From Slate • Aug. 6, 2024
In the case of gross incivility or overcharge, you have a simple remedy by taking the conductor’s number and applying for a summons at the nearest police office.
From Collins' Illustrated Guide to London and Neighbourhood by Anonymous
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.
