oversell
Americanverb (used with object)
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to sell more of (a stock, product, etc.) than can be delivered.
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to sell aggressively, as by using high-pressure merchandising techniques.
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to emphasize the good points of excessively and to a self-defeating extent.
She so oversold the picnic that I became convinced I'd have a better time at the movies.
verb (used without object)
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to sell something aggressively.
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to make extreme claims for something or someone.
verb
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(tr) to sell more of (a commodity) than can be supplied
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to use excessively aggressive methods in selling (commodities)
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(tr) to exaggerate the merits of
Etymology
Origin of oversell
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:
At one point, in 2015, as she was crafting her pitch, Epstein urged her: “dont oversell it, it will kill it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
“When we are nervous about getting a job we really want, we try to oversell ourselves,” West said.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 23, 2026
Olsen: But when you see that moment in the script, in particular that very distinctive two-word phrase — your delivery of it is so fantastic because you don’t oversell the line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2025
In the same way that airlines oversell seats, cruise lines may compensate for cancellations by overselling staterooms.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
But he’s funny as hell up there—sinking to his knees, grasping his head, moaning—and I don’t want to oversell it or anything, but this just may be the most iconic performance of all time.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
Ms. Low tacitly admits that the prevailing culture has been overselling the rewards of work—and playing down the importance of relationships, i.e., marriage and children, as a cornerstone of a woman’s happiness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
It keeps well, travels well — and I swear I’m not overselling — it really is extraordinary.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2025
Kimmelman worries potential overselling of trial benefits isn’t limited to cancer.
From Science Magazine ● May 22, 2024
Filling in with standbys, however, reduces Holland America’s reliance on overselling, which runs the risk of bumping passengers to distant departures or potentially offering generous cash incentives to coax volunteers to cancel.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
Gray had set himself deliberately to the task of selling himself to this gentleman of the press, and, having succeeded, he was enough of a salesman to avoid the fatal error of overselling.
From Flowing Gold by Beach, Rex Ellingwood
Boloor said that the “mix of oversold conditions” and “dip-buying” comes after a period in which investors took profits on fears that the memory cycle was near a peak, among other factors.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
But “Wedges” oversold the readiness of carbon capture and storage, describing it as “already deployed” industrially.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
Since then, however, signs that AI has been oversold as a world-changing technology have proliferated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, alleges the company oversold usage allowances on its priciest Claude chatbot tiers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
“Unfortunately, we’re oversold on this flight,” she says.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
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.
