overdress
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to dress with too much display, finery, or formality.
He certainly overdressed for the occasion.
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to put excessive clothing on.
She tends to overdress her children.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overdresssimple
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overdressessimple
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have overdressedperfect
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has overdressedperfect
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am overdressingprogressive
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are overdressingprogressive
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is overdressingprogressive
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have been overdressingperfect progressive
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has been overdressingperfect progressive
Past
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overdressedsimple
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had overdressedperfect
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was overdressingprogressive
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were overdressingprogressive
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had been overdressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overdress
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:
"I was wearing formal clothing – that taught me not to overdress in hot weather."
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
“It’s just flagrantly obnoxious to overdress in a workplace situation, especially when you’re a junior member,” said Gunn, best known for being a clear-eyed mentor on the fashion-design competition show “Project Runway.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
“The sweetness means it can take an acid nicely,” notes the chef, who instructs his staff to slightly overdress Little Gems because he finds the “juiciness” of the leaves slightly dilutes the dressing.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2022
Still, it’s hard to resist the temptation to overdress.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2020
Her Majesty's dress consisted of a petticoat of sea-green satin, richly ornamented with silver lace of antique pattern and an overdress of dark velvet, embroidered with gold and set with precious stones.
From William of Germany by Shaw, Stanley
As the head of a luxury marketing agency who overdresses, smokes, mocks political correctness and oozes meanness, she is the extreme version of the “Parisienne,” disseminating style and scorn in equal measure.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2020
She still overdresses, and makes eyes, and she nudges those who sit next her at table, but she is good-natured, says whatever comes into her head, and has a strong sense of humor.
From Unleavened Bread by Grant, Robert
Much fine stitchery was put into the fine white undergarments of that time, and the overdresses of both men and women became stiff with gold thread and jewels.
From Chats on Old Lace and Needlework by Lowes, Emily Leigh
If a more satiny look than cheesecloth gives is wished, let the overdresses be of light-colored cambric with the glazed side turned outward.
From Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Mackay, Constance D'Arcy
Court ladies in pale-yellow bodices and looped overdresses over white.
From Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Mackay, Constance D'Arcy
But many of us are still loyal to sweatpants, and perhaps less inclined to participate in the formal, overdressed dining rituals of our pre-pandemic lives.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2022
“Death in Venice” both satirizes and relishes upper-class Venetian tourism of the early 20th century, with a patient camera that settles, uncomfortably if nauseatingly, on an overdecorated hotel and its overdressed guests.
From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2021
All four family members are overdressed throughout but it is Moira and David who make it an artform.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 16, 2020
The threads, no pieces, of Chilean crab in the Cobb salad tasted watery, while the lettuce was overdressed until limp and the egg overcooked to dry-yolked and rubbery.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2019
I don’t know what I thought I’d see— I guess after three months of addressing him, I was sure I’d feel a certain kinship with the stocky, overdressed man before me.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
Doing the most: People made up for the past few years by overdressing in 2022.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2022
We're overdressing her all the time, which I adore because it's not realistic at all, and we can do it and Darren loves it.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2022
Avoid the gruesome pitfalls of overdressing or underdressing.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2012
Saturday-Night Outfit: It depends where, but I always believe in overdressing.
From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2010
She had a sort of natural instinct which kept her from overdressing, and she always looked the picture of neatness.
From Good Luck by Meade, L. T.
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.
