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:
“Local law enforcement must not be complicit through silence or inaction when federal agents overstep legal and ethical boundaries,” Duarte said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
Some point out it’s a small percentage of visitors who overstep.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2025
Known to occasionally overstep with her kids by offering hugs or driving a child who missed the bus home, Justine swears she knows as little about the disappearance as everyone else in town.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2025
"I know there have been complaints about it but I don't want to speak too much about it and overstep the mark," he said.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2025
I overstep all of my own boundaries when I'm with you.
From "What the Night Sings" by Vesper Stamper
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
Watch as England miss three big chances to pick up Australian wickets as Jonny Bairstow misses a stumping and drops a catch and Stuart Broad oversteps after bowling Usman Khawaja.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2023
“Someone tend the babe before he oversteps himself,” the noble said to the crowd.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Kavanaugh again referred the matter to his colleagues, and on Friday evening, the high court made clear that it thought the appeals panel had overstepped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The company argued in the lawsuit that Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth overstepped his authority with the new designation.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
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
He was put out that I had overstepped myself in denying that I would profit from biochemistry.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
The more important conversation is how to hold individual bad actors accountable so that law enforcement can use new technology to keep us safe without overstepping proper limits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
I want to teach my young relative good money habits without overstepping the parents’ authority.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
A message on 29 December showed Ms Bunyan saying she was not a "threat to Mr Renteria's family" and that she admitted overstepping boundaries, but felt Mr Renteria had done the same.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2025
Representatives for the creators of “South Park” have accused him of overstepping his authority and meddling with a protracted negotiation over their overall deal and streaming rights to the long-running cartoon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2025
“I may be overstepping myself a little,” I said as I held out my hand for him to shake.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
