overpraise
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of overpraise
1350–1400; Middle English overpreisen (v.); see over-, praise
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:
Even last year,, external Chappell, rarely one to overpraise English batting, grouped Crawley with Root and Harry Brook as England's key Ashes batters.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
Orwell and Hardwick present the “gross” overpraise as calculated; I think it usually is not.
From Slate ● Jan. 9, 2018
So let us not overpraise ourselves for being enlightened.
From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2017
This manages to both overpraise and insult his team all at once, very impressive.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 9, 2015
Here is another case where the hysteric overpraise of the critics has done a capable workman a serious injustice, and but for it a candid reviewer could have no temptation towards blame.
From My Contemporaries In Fiction by Murray, David Christie
The theatrical hype machine needs a winner, but let’s not hold the way “Kimberly Akimbo” has been overpraised against it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
I felt terribly overpraised when I made this for my family last week because I felt I had done so little to earn their appreciation.
From The Guardian ● May 13, 2020
The crop of lackluster new musicals — including the overpraised Tony winner, “Hadestown” — provided further evidence of a commercial theater in creative flux.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 9, 2019
Emma Donoghue’s breakthrough novel, the overpraised “Room,” was followed by a much better one, the underpraised “Frog Music.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 27, 2016
The Yorks had a pleasantly comfortable home life, and Ronnie, overloved and overpraised by his parents and a worshipful younger sister, was the adored center of it.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
![]()
Yet there is a risk of overpraising her merits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
I learned my lesson after overpraising one of your stories and having you protest that I always loved everything you did.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 30, 2021
Recent studies have turned conventional wisdom on its head, concluding that overpraising kids makes them less confident and motivated.
From Time ● Oct. 1, 2013
Obama risks overpraising himself, even as he takes pains to credit the workers at the companies.
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2012
With Aunty Uju, they hovered and groveled, curtseying deeply as they greeted her, overpraising her handbag and shoes.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
![]()
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.