verb
-
to pay (someone) at too high a rate
-
to pay (someone) more than is due, as by an error
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overpaysimple
-
overpayssimple
-
have overpaidperfect
-
has overpaidperfect
-
am overpayingprogressive
-
are overpayingprogressive
-
is overpayingprogressive
-
have been overpayingperfect progressive
-
has been overpayingperfect progressive
Past
-
overpaidsimple
-
had overpaidperfect
-
was overpayingprogressive
-
were overpayingprogressive
-
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:
Similarly, Arsenal have a hardline maximum valuation of Guimaraes and are unwilling to overpay despite their desire to sign the midfielder.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
It sounds like great investing advice, and for years it was: “Buy good companies, don’t overpay, do nothing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Many of us overpay on taxes and then wait for a large refund in April.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
BBD is also a cautionary reminder to Major League general managers not to overpay players whose best years are behind them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 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
Housing Authority in two Feb. 19 pieces: the front-page article “D.C. overpays landlords by millions to house its poorest” and Theresa Vargas’s Metro column, “D.C. overpays landlords at a dire cost to residents.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 21, 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
Nay, if Heaven shuts my father’s heart against me, it overpays my little merit in the tenderness of my mother.—O that dear mother!
From Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story; Vathek, an Arabian Tale by William Beckford
The proportion of 1,000 marketing and procurement leaders surveyed by Billion Dollar Boy who said they felt they had overpaid for creator fees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
The majority, 335 veterans, were overpaid a total of £5.1m as a result of incorrect National Insurance calculations.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Analysts are split on whether Josh Kushner and Bob Iger overpaid for the Lakers when they agreed on a price of $12.5 billion for the iconic NBA team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Nevertheless, there are those who will maintain Tottenham have overpaid for Savinho but what he does on the pitch will answer those questions.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Nay, I am already overpaid, by the little that I did, by drawing out of his obscurity so worthy a gentleman.
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
If employers are lax in their oversight, workers might find themselves overpaying to invest in funds that underperform.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
But whether it’s overpaying in restricted free agency or working out a sign-and-trade deal, pry him away from the Jazz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026
Dominion’s stock jumped on the announcement while NextEra’s initially fell, a spread that captured both the premium attached to AI-grid exposure and the market’s uncertainty about whether NextEra was overpaying to get it.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
"I am afraid you are overpaying me, Mr. Sargent," said Rodney.
From Cast Upon the Breakers by Horatio Alger
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.
