overstep
Americanverb (used with object)
-
oversteps,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overstepped,
past participle, past
-
overstepping
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overstepsimple
-
overstepssimple
-
have oversteppedperfect
-
has oversteppedperfect
-
am oversteppingprogressive
-
are oversteppingprogressive
-
is oversteppingprogressive
-
have been oversteppingperfect progressive
-
has been oversteppingperfect progressive
Past
-
oversteppedsimple
-
had oversteppedperfect
-
was oversteppingprogressive
-
were oversteppingprogressive
-
had been oversteppingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overstep
before 1000; Middle English oversteppen, Old English ofersteppan. See over-, step
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:
Mike Kaercher, deputy director of the New York University Tax Law Center, called the Treasury’s move a welcome first step in shutting down strategies that overstep the bounds of the law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Pike testified that it was not his job “to overstep and tell him what to do. He earned that rank.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
Rather than adapting her impressions, Lewis is steadfast in her belief that "to make comedy funny, unfortunately you have to overstep the mark."
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2025
Our three-branch system of government relies on each branch serving as a check on the other branches' power, ensuring that they don't overstep their authority and boundaries.
From Salon ● Feb. 14, 2025
Relief washes over me that Mom didn’t overstep, but now I feel stupid, because I’ve just given her dirt on me that I didn’t want her to have.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
Society loses sight of human reality “when the economy turns against the person or science oversteps the limits of its competence,” he writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Hikari channels that quality to good use in “Rental Family” but never oversteps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025
In the annals of strategic oversteps in America’s post-9/11 forever war, our shoeless airport security lines will go down as a footnote.
From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2025
US District Judge Donald Molloy agreed with TikTok, saying that it "violates the Constitution in more ways than one" and "oversteps state power".
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2023
“Someone tend the babe before he oversteps himself,” the noble said to the crowd.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued in December and argued that the president had overstepped his authority.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
"The Court has concluded that the Board overstepped its statutory bounds by unilaterally renaming the Kennedy Center after President Trump," Judge Christopher Cooper ruled.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
Still, Hoppock said, CBP had overstepped in its aggressive handling of the matter, which he called “really something.”
From Salon ● May 14, 2026
Moggach added that Linden was now aware that his behaviour "simply was unacceptable and he overstepped certain boundaries."
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
I was just a little kid, and I realized that I had overstepped.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
The mission directors then sued Unilever for overstepping its rights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
I want to teach my young relative good money habits without overstepping the parents’ authority.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
These included avoiding solo trips, road trips, or cycling trips for safety - which many saw as the institutions overstepping their authority in students' private lives.
From BBC ● May 26, 2025
The company has ignored commission demands that it cease work and has filed suit against the commission, accusing it of overstepping its authority.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
Disease usually results from inconclusive negotiations for symbiosis, an overstepping of the line by one side or the other, a biologic misinterpretation of borders.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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.
