overcome
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overcomes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcame,
past
-
overcome,
past participle
-
overcoming
present participle
-
to get the better of in a struggle or conflict; conquer; defeat.
to overcome the enemy.
- Synonyms:
- vanquish
-
to prevail over (opposition, a debility, temptations, etc.); surmount.
to overcome one's weaknesses.
-
to overpower or overwhelm in body or mind, as does liquor, a drug, exertion, or emotion.
I was overcome with grief.
-
Archaic. to overspread or overrun.
verb (used without object)
-
overcomes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcame,
past
-
overcome,
past participle
-
overcoming
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to get the better of in a conflict
-
(tr; often passive) to render incapable or powerless by laughter, sorrow, exhaustion, etc
he was overcome by fumes
-
(tr) to surmount (obstacles, objections, etc)
-
(intr) to be victorious
Synonym Usage
See defeat.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overcomesimple
-
overcomessimple
-
have overcomeperfect
-
has overcomeperfect
-
am overcomingprogressive
-
are overcomingprogressive
-
is overcomingprogressive
-
have been overcomingperfect progressive
-
has been overcomingperfect progressive
Past
-
overcamesimple
-
had overcomeperfect
-
was overcomingprogressive
-
were overcomingprogressive
-
had been overcomingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overcome
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English ofercuman; see over-, come
Explanation
Use the verb overcome when you talk about someone who has triumphed over adversity. It's great to see a friend who's always struggled in school overcome his learning disabilities and make the honor roll. You can also be overcome with emotions, or overwhelmed by your feelings. Many people feel so overcome with sadness at a movie — or happiness at a wedding — that they regret not bringing a pile of tissues with them. The verb overcome also means to win or surpass. If you are going to win the marathon, you are going to have to overcome having five runners ahead of you.
Vocabulary lists containing overcome
List 1
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Brown Girl Dreaming
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"Hitching a Ride"
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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:
Alphabet’s capital needs present another challenge it is relatively well equipped to overcome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
"Her life's work was to empower her community to face and overcome injustices, and she has left farm workers and the entire Latino community stronger and more organised than she found it," the UFW said.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
After two straight losses, Matthew Stafford and the Rams showcase their potential and overcome adversity in a 35-21 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
See more: How Broadcom’s stock can surge and overcome ‘the biggest dislocation in the market’
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
All the years Grandpa Dodzi had lived, the changes he’d seen, the struggles he’d overcome, his grit, his irrepressible humor—all lost to us and the world because his time had come.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
Winning a record number of seats, Arab lawmakers now have the power to unseat him -- but only if the opposition overcomes resistance to allying with them.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
In fact, GPS also overcomes the challenge through time: A receiver uses the travel times of signals from several satellites, whose positions are known, to calculate its own position.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
This overcomes a key challenge facing Moore's Law that Intel sums up as: "You can make something smaller and smaller and smaller... until you can't".
From Barron's ● May 25, 2026
"Our work overcomes those limitations by using a mouse model that closely mirrors natural infection," Wilson said.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 27, 2026
Soon Mother will send word of his birth to the bishop, who will rule on our future, but for now my delight in Hamlet overcomes any fear.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
When they fell behind 4-0 on Saturday, the Brewers didn’t have to think back very far to recall a time when they overcame that kind of deficit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Microscopic observations revealed how the adapted cells overcame this resistance.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
In 2023 and 2024 they overcame slow starts to win 10 games and make the playoffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
The Texas Longhorns overcame a 20-point deficit after ESPN’s win probability metric gave the team a 1.9% chance of winning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
This last blow overcame her, and she knelt by Beaufort’s coffin weeping bitterly, when my father entered the chamber.
From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
Newsom has built his iconography around an image of a young man following in his father’s footsteps while also being raised by a long-suffering single mother and overcoming his dyslexia.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
Mary Coleman comes in at prop as a result, while England are boosted by captain Jodie Cunningham overcoming an ear injury suffered last week to be named on the bench.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
By identifying a previously overlooked immune pathway, researchers have uncovered a potential strategy for overcoming the cancer's ability to remain hidden.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
“We know young people have difficulty with patience, tolerating frustration and delaying gratification. They have a harder time managing and overcoming difficulty,” says Feuer, who wasn’t involved in the China research.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
“That isn’t overcoming cowardice! Cowardice is how you decide to be in real life, and in real life, I am not getting pecked to death by crows, Four!”
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
