overuse
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overusesimple
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overusessimple
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have overusedperfect
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has overusedperfect
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am overusingprogressive
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are overusingprogressive
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is overusingprogressive
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have been overusingperfect progressive
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has been overusingperfect progressive
Past
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overusedsimple
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had overusedperfect
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was overusingprogressive
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were overusingprogressive
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had been overusingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overuse
Explanation
To overuse something is to use it too much. If you use your cell phone way too often, texting your friends all day long and playing online Scrabble all night, you overuse it. You'll drive your English teacher crazy if you overuse the word like, and you'll rack up all kinds of extra fees if you overuse your iPad. Overuse is also a noun (with a slightly different pronunciation, just as the noun use sounds different from the verb use) — extravagant or excessive use is overuse. The world's overuse of fossil fuels contributes to the rapid warming of the planet.
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.
“This is not an AI layoff. Frankly, I think we overuse that as a reason to communicate across the industry,” Goodrazi said.
From Barron's • May 20, 2026
Last week, I wrote about the overuse of the slang-suffix “-maxxing” in nutritional spaces, underscoring why the rhetoric we use to define how we nourish ourselves matters so greatly.
From Salon • May 17, 2026
"Due to poorly-planned development, the overuse of pesticides and the practice of creating sterile and lifeless outdoor spaces, wildlife is now disappearing and people are becoming disconnected from nature." said Surrey Wildlife Trust's Claire Harris.
From BBC • Apr. 16, 2026
There is also concern about the overuse of antibiotics, which can lead to drug-resistant bacteria.
From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026
But many of them are on the brink of extinction now as a result of industrial pollution and human overuse of oceanic resources.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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.
