overspend

American  

[oh-ver-spend] / ˌoʊ vərˈspɛnd /

verb (used without object)

• overspends,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overspent,
  past participle,  past
• overspending
  present participle

1. to spend more than one can afford.

   Receiving a small inheritance, she began to overspend alarmingly.

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verb (used with object)

• overspends,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overspent,
  past participle,  past
• overspending
  present participle

1. to spend in excess of.

   He was overspending his yearly salary by several thousand dollars.

2. to spend beyond one's means (used reflexively).

   When the bills arrived, he realized he had foolishly overspent himself.

3. to wear out; exhaust.

overspend British  

verb

1. to spend in excess of (one's desires or what one can afford or is allocated)

2. (tr; usually passive) to wear out; exhaust

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noun

1. the amount by which someone or something is overspent

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• overspending
  present
• overspent
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• overspend
  simple
• overspends
  simple
• have overspent
  perfect
• has overspent
  perfect
• am overspending
  progressive
• are overspending
  progressive
• is overspending
  progressive
• have been overspending
  perfect progressive
• has been overspending
  perfect progressive

Past

• overspent
  simple
• had overspent
  perfect
• was overspending
  progressive
• were overspending
  progressive
• had been overspending
  perfect progressive

Future

• will overspend
  simple
• will have overspent
  perfect
• will be overspending
  progressive
• will have been overspending
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of overspend

First recorded in 1580–90; over- + spend

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

overspend overspends overspent overspending

So companies can overspend on buybacks, continuing to repurchase even when their shares are trading at historically high levels to earnings, cash flow or book value.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

General manager Pat Verbeek had no choice but to overspend on center Leo Carlsson, signing him to a five-year, $90-million contract after the Flyers offered Carlsson the same deal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026

Hull had an overspend of about £6m for the period to 2025-26.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

I either overspend on food items, failing to take advantage of hidden deals as I frantically yet desperately attempt to restock my kitchen.

From Salon ● May 30, 2026

I am never called anything but Mollie, except when I overspend my allowance, and mother feels it her duty to scold me.

From The Fortunes of the Farrells by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

It catalogues how the club's owners, Abu Dhabi United Group, knew from the 2009-10 season that there would be major overspends if the club was to reach the level they wanted to get to.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

He adds that, unlike rivals, Apple doesn’t have a cloud business to sell excess compute if it overspends on AI data centers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

Carmy tends to brush off nearly all of her concepts, making Syd question whether she can find the culinary success that’s long eluded her at the side of a colleague who overspends and overreaches.

From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2025

But by the standards of government overspends, either would be unusually large.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2024

If he overspends his money he is bankrupt, and the person who overspends his strength is for the time physically bankrupt.

From A Practical Physiology by Albert F. Blaisdell

If spending on administrative or non-healthcare functions exceeded 10% of total revenue, a clinic would have to pay a penalty equal to the amount it overspent.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Stocks sold off rapidly on worries that U.S. companies had overspent, but bounced back and continued climbing later in the year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

Or they overspent on infrastructure they couldn’t operationalize and are now cutting to manage cash flow.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 4, 2025

Another east London council, Havering, has also overspent by £6m on housing homeless families and is putting its council tax up by 5%.

From BBC ● Apr. 1, 2025

His aunt said, “He has overspent his power,” but she had no art to help him.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Mejia cited ongoing revenue shortfalls, liability payouts and departmental overspending as the key reasons for the ballooning budget, which has grown by about 25% over the last four years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026

“The concerns around overspending, the concerns around monetization, they won’t go away, the concerns around too-high capex/too much debt, issuance, that will not go away. If anything, that will probably intensify in 2027.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

But Apple’s “go-slow” strategy comes in handy on days when investor concerns about AI overspending flare up, insulating the stock from downturns that hit the semiconductor space.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

The results broadly eased worries about AI companies overspending relative to future profitability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

In 1997, an IMF mission to   Gabon criticized the government for overspending on off-budget   items, overborrowing from the central bank, and slipping on its   schedule for privatization and administrative reform.

From The 2001 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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