overstay
Americanverb (used with object)
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overstays,
present (3rd person singular)
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overstayed,
past participle, past
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overstaying
present participle
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to stay beyond the time, limit, or duration of; outstay.
to overstay one's welcome.
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Finance. to remain in (the market) beyond the point where a sale would have yielded the greatest profit.
verb
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to stay beyond the time, limit, or duration of
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finance to delay a transaction in (a market) until after the point at which the maximum profit would have been made
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to stay in New Zealand beyond (the period sanctioned by the immigration authorities or the period of a visitor's permit)
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to stay (at a party, on a visit, etc), longer than pleases the host or hostess
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overstaysimple
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overstayssimple
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have overstayedperfect
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has overstayedperfect
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am overstayingprogressive
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are overstayingprogressive
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is overstayingprogressive
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have been overstayingperfect progressive
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has been overstayingperfect progressive
Past
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overstayedsimple
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had overstayedperfect
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was overstayingprogressive
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were overstayingprogressive
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had been overstayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overstay
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:
“What triggers us to sell a stock is seeing fatigue in the fundamental growth profile. You don’t overstay your welcome.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
Some were not necessarily controversial: requests to share data on known criminals, encourage people not to overstay their visas, work with the US to receive their own nationals slated for deportation.
From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026
It’s true that far too many pop records overstay their welcome, but this one is 29 minutes long and the tracklist includes some older material.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
"We've seen visa abuse in the case of legal routes, where people have gone legally and then sought to overstay when their visas weren't extended," Malhotra said.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2025
“So we’re going to have to work together to make sure he doesn’t overstay his welcome.”
From "A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness
In December, the U.S. expanded travel restrictions to include people from more than two dozen African nations, citing concerns about visa overstays and a need for more rigorous vetting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Visa overstays by Indians have remained steady at 1.5% since 2016.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2025
Like a comedy sketch that overstays its welcome, “Society” undermines both its caustic intent and its romantic-comedy subplot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2024
But in people with chronic pain, inflammation often overstays its welcome.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2023
Forfeiture of ration is made when a soldier overstays furlough.
From Military Instructors Manual by Schoonmaker, Oliver
Daniel Adongo, the first Kenyan to play in the NFL, overstayed his visa after his brief career with the Indianapolis Colts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Daniel Adongo, 37, who was a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts for two years, overstayed his visa in 2016, the year after his NFL career ended, according to the US authorities.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The applications go unanswered, the layoffs keep mounting, and we clamor over the few jobs left, wondering whether we’ve overstayed the party in Silicon Valley.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
Westwood Holdings Group raised $300 million to buy stakes in private-equity funds invested in oil and gas assets, seeking to capitalize on investor desire to cash out energy bets that have overstayed their welcome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
She glanced toward the steps and found me and Javi trying to squeeze behind the last lingering parents who’d already overstayed their welcome for Move-In Day.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
But the level of tension is such that as the chefs battle the clock, the pantry, the rain-delayed customer traffic and people overstaying their welcome, they might as well be performing organ transplants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Shortly after Museveni took power in 1986, ending years of bloodshed and chaos under tyrannical rulers, the young president mused that leaders overstaying their welcome lay at the heart of Africa's problems.
From Barron's ● Jan. 17, 2026
ICE accused Clarke of overstaying his visa and arrested him.
From Slate ● Dec. 20, 2025
Not the most original sketch idea, but the specific details of the characters and Padilla’s smitten reactions as the bachelorette saved the sketch from overstaying its welcome.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025
The guard opens the door, probably to yell at me for overstaying my welcome, but I’m already making my way out.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
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.
