overhear
Americanverb (used with object)
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overhears,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overheard,
past participle, past
-
overhearing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overhearsimple
-
overhearssimple
-
have overheardperfect
-
has overheardperfect
-
am overhearingprogressive
-
are overhearingprogressive
-
is overhearingprogressive
-
have been overhearingperfect progressive
-
has been overhearingperfect progressive
Past
-
overheardsimple
-
had overheardperfect
-
was overhearingprogressive
-
were overhearingprogressive
-
had been overhearingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overhear
Explanation
When you accidentally hear part of a private conversation, you overhear it. If you overhear your friends discussing the surprise party they're throwing for your birthday, you'll have to pretend to be surprised. Some restaurants have tables so close together that it's hard not to overhear what your neighbors are talking about. And so many people walk around talking loudly on their mobile phones that it's common to overhear several conversations (or, at least one half of them) just walking down the sidewalk. This is a modern phenomenon, but overhear is an old word, from the sixteenth century idea of hearing "beyond the normal range of the voice."
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:
She said it’s more irritating, for instance, to overhear social-media videos than to witness a face-to-face conversation at the same volume, because “personal listening devices are supposed to be personal.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
She told the BBC she would overhear Alphonsine helping her with her language skills.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2025
I regularly overhear other birders marveling over the flashy warblers in breeding plumage, while overlooking other comparatively less-flashy birds like vireos and sparrows.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2025
“I used to sit and overhear conversations you had with Eleanor about that.”
From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024
“You should have been an actor,” she whispers to him when she is certain no one will overhear.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Nearby, 40-year-old Masoumeh overhears our conversation and joins in.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
When he overhears Jonathan describing him as having, “too much money and no taste,” Ripley feels slighted, which is why he gets Jonathan involved in doing Reeves’ dirty work.
From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2024
“It must be exhausting to have so many strong opinions,” he theorizes as he overhears an argument about something unimportant near the novel’s beginning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2023
All seems idyllic — until the day Beth, approaching her husband and brother-in-law in a store, overhears Don saying that he doesn’t like her new novel at all, but he can’t tell her.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2023
He overhears someone in the line saying the chickpeas have gone bad.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Obesity-medicine doctor Dr. Angela Fitch recalled a time when she overheard prospective patients discussing the drug over breakfast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Jackson said the officer will fight the charge and plead not guilty, and that the law only applies where the speakers have a reasonable expectation that what they say would not be overheard or recorded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
She only learned about the reintroduction plan after asking rangers about discussions she had overheard.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
This overheard comment, plus a confluence of socially embarrassing events at the Meryton ball later, push Mary to the point of breakdown.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
It can only be defined by the anecdote, the chance encounter or the sentence overheard.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The court heard that Morgan had been deemed a "high risk to others and to himself" after overhearing conversations that took place since he has been in custody.
From BBC ● Jan. 16, 2026
“After overhearing a passionate ideological dispute around her own kitchen table between the future Nobel laureate for literature and his radical friends from the University of Chicago, she muttered: ‘Smart, smart, smart.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
“It was surreal getting back to work and being on the other side of the stage,” Huntley said, overhearing people talk about the early August show days later.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2025
“Kids are often being exposed to these topics anyway, through their peers, the media and overhearing conversations,” said Wenner Moyer.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2024
Meg stopped there, remembering all of a sudden that she hadn’t made up her mind, that she had told ‘her John’ to go away, and that he might be overhearing her inconsistent remarks.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
