overdress
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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overdresses,
present (3rd person singular)
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overdressed,
past participle, past
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overdressing
present participle
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to dress with too much display, finery, or formality.
He certainly overdressed for the occasion.
-
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
-
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
“Castelfranco tends to be less bitter and more tender than its fellow radicchios, so I try not to overdress it in a salad,” says Rand Rasheed, who grows it at One Leaf Farm.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2022
“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
He did not like jewels, and inclined to the opinion of a noble lord who once remarked coarsely, "The devil has nothing left to teach women who overdress themselves and coil their hair fantastically."
From Abb? Aubain and Mosaics by Prosper M?rim?e
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
Court ladies in pale-yellow bodices and looped overdresses over white.
From Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Constance D'Arcy Mackay
The first group to enter is the pale-violet group, ladies-in-waiting, who wear pale-violet bodices and overdresses over white.
From Patriotic Plays and Pageants for Young People by Constance D'Arcy Mackay
The bride-maids were all dressed in a uniform of white tarletan, trained, with overdresses of the same, rose-colored sashes and bows, and rose wreaths on their heads.
From Victor's Triumph Sequel to A Beautiful Fiend by Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth
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 Constance D'Arcy Mackay
And the older guests, slightly overdressed for the occasion, can be seen smuggling their ties back into their pockets.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2024
Or 1989, widely and unfairly remembered as the Worst Oscars Ever, which Schulman, a staff writer for The New Yorker, dissects like a forensic pathologist hovering over an overdressed corpse.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
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
All four family members are overdressed throughout but it is Moira and David who make it an artform.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 16, 2020
Finally, Mrs. de Vries answers, overdressed as usual in a blue silk dress and straight-seamed stockings.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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
Sylvia had found that overdressing was the best way of returning his hospitality; this evening she determined to surpass all previous efforts.
From The Early Life and Adventures of Sylvia Scarlett by Compton MacKenzie
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.
