verb
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to pay (someone) at too high a rate
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to pay (someone) more than is due, as by an error
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overpaysimple
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overpayssimple
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have overpaidperfect
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has overpaidperfect
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am overpayingprogressive
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are overpayingprogressive
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is overpayingprogressive
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have been overpayingperfect progressive
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has been overpayingperfect progressive
Past
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overpaidsimple
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had overpaidperfect
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was overpayingprogressive
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were overpayingprogressive
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had been overpayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overpay
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:
A compromise: Agree to overpay your mortgage each month using some of your savings if you really want to get the outstanding balance down upon retiring.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
The lawsuits, consolidated by a federal court in Northern California, alleged that Apple enticed consumers to overpay for new devices by falsely advertising that certain iPhones included improvements to its virtual assistant, Siri.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Conroy says they plan to overpay their mortgage for the first five years to build up more equity in their home.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
It is causing sticker shock for patients, and headaches for patients who overpay and then try to collect refunds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
My half is $200, and I’m relieved, because it means Babs didn’t overpay me when she fronted me the money the other day.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Record-breaking purchases of NBA, NFL and MLB teams are often initially considered overpays, yet soon are deemed bargains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Last month, a Washington Post investigation found the agency overpays landlords by millions of dollars every year because it doesn’t check to ensure subsidized rents are in line with market rates.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2023
The two biggest contracts of the offseason, signed by first baseman Eric Hosmer and pitcher Yu Darvish, already look like overpays, as neither has impressed this year.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2018
Typically the acquirer overpays for the synergies on offer, exaggerates or overestimates them in its lust to justify a deal, or botches the subsequent integration of the organisations.
From Economist ● Nov. 13, 2014
I have received your letter of the 23d, and it certainly overpays me, when you thank instead of scolding me, as I feared.
From The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford — Volume 4 by Horace Walpole
Social Security overpaid my 82-year-old mother by $20,000.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
A few months ago, she got a letter from Social Security saying she’d been overpaid by roughly $20,000.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Now they have some, even if it’s only enough to pursue trades for the disgruntled, the redundant, the overpaid.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
He's since been notified he was overpaid £32,188 and must hand it back.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The discovery that the monetary recompense for the sixteen hours that the consumero worked or played was only two pesetas—or about eighteenpence of English money—showed that if he was not overwrought neither was he overpaid.
From The Fortunate Isles Life and Travel in Majorca, Minorca and Iviza by Mary Stuart Boyd
The real reason the scheme works, however, is that people are overpaying him for Bitcoin, which enables him to buy more Bitcoin and sell more securities at favorable terms.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
One can understand overpaying by a bit to acquire something special, but overpaying by more than a billion dollars is highly questionable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
The consistency of United's messaging is being articulated in a summer where they are keen to prove they will not be bullied into overpaying to get deals over the line.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
To offset lower upfront payments, many smaller deals are coming with contingent payments, like contingent-value rights or milestones, that could eventually raise the value while protecting buyers from overpaying.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
She went so swiftly that Williamson had much ado to keep pace with her, besides overpaying the waitress in his hurry.
From Life at High Tide by Henry Mills Alden
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
