overrule
Americanverb (used with object)
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to rule against or disallow the arguments of (a person).
The senator was overruled by the committee chairman.
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to rule or decide against (a plea, argument, etc.); reject.
to overrule an objection.
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to prevail over so as to change the purpose or action.
a delay that overruled our plans.
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to exercise control or influence over.
belief in a beneficent deity that overrules the universe.
verb
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to disallow the arguments of (a person) by the use of authority
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to rule or decide against (an argument, decision, etc)
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to prevail over, dominate, or influence
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to exercise rule over
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overrulesimple
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overrulessimple
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have overruledperfect
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has overruledperfect
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am overrulingprogressive
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are overrulingprogressive
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is overrulingprogressive
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have been overrulingperfect progressive
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has been overrulingperfect progressive
Past
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overruledsimple
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had overruledperfect
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was overrulingprogressive
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were overrulingprogressive
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had been overrulingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overrule
Explanation
In a court of law, when a judge overrules, she disagrees with an attorney's objection and allows the opposing side to go ahead with a line of questioning. In courtroom dramas, you'll hear lawyers yelling, "Objection!" followed by a judge declaring, "Overruled!" When the court overrules an objection, they're considering the legality of what the opposing attorney was saying and whether the objection was legitimate. If there was a valid legal reason to object, the judge would say, "Sustained." Judges can also overrule previous decisions made by lower courts. Before gaining its legal meaning, overrule simply meant "rule over or govern."
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:
The amendment was originally ratified in the wake of the Civil War specifically to overrule the infamy of the Dred Scott decision.
From Salon ● Jun. 27, 2026
She did overrule him, though, on a flowerscape he described as “minimal ’90s, minimal Japanese, minimalist Charlie Sheen in ‘Wall Street’ vibes.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Smith said he showed jurors that Moore lied when the ex-chief, who retired in 2024, testified that he hadn’t sought to overrule a disciplinary panel’s decision in Mehringer’s case.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
In rare cases they can overrule the results of an assessment if they still have concerns about a player's performance in it or there was an error in administering it.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
The man slowly moved away, peeking backward a couple times, hoping one of us would overrule Ozzie’s rejection.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
Slaughter, the majority opinion said the “Humphrey’s framework has not withstood the test of time” and the court therefore overrules it.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
The ruling overrules a previous Supreme Court judgment ruling known as Cheshire West.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
The agency overrules Vinay Prasad’s refusal to consider Moderna’s shot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
Shirani's results indicate that the fact that the active catalytic subunit overrules its inhibitory components is what's important, not a structural change in the kinase itself.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2024
The age overrules us all, society is strong, and the individual is consequently weak.
From About London by Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
His body will not be overruled by a blackout blind.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
A UC faculty task force recommended keeping the SAT in 2020, but the regents overruled it and voted to develop a UC-specific test that a committee later determined would take too long to create.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
On rare occasions, Polymarket has overruled UMA’s decisions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Milligan, stating flatly: “We have not overruled Allen.”
From Slate ● May 12, 2026
The school board overruled; he was given a few weeks’ suspension and returned to the classroom.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Nick, from Warrington: All this talk of overruling VAR's recommendation for Cunha's goal, but it's actually refreshing to see a referee take ownership of a decision and stand by it.
From BBC ● May 17, 2026
It declared that if a Supreme Court precedent “has direct application in a case,” the lower court must “follow the case which directly controls, leaving to this court the prerogative of overruling its own decisions.”
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026
He takes a swipe at his predecessor, Peter Marks, for overruling career staff to approve Sarepta Therapeutics’ gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating childhood disease.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
Josh Lipsky of the Atlantic Council noted that even as justices were skeptical, they appeared concerned about fallout from overruling the tariffs.
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2025
“I am overruling these guards on this matter! You are obviously a part of this—of this conspiracy plot. I'm taking you in for questioning immediately!”
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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.
