overpay

verb

over·​pay ˌō-vər-ˈpā 

overpaid ˌō-vər-ˈpād  ; overpaying

transitive + intransitive

: to pay too much to someone or for something

… the debate over whether organic foods are a smart choice for healthier living or a marketing tool that gulls people into overpaying.

—Kenneth Chang

It took my husband and me an hour with a representative to figure out we were overpaying for insurance and unlimited data plans.

—Tanisha A. Sykes

Be careful not to overpay state taxes.

—Carl T. Hall

We are not overpaying people; we are paying people what the market demands.

—Renee Glover

overpaid adjective

… fuels the negative stereotype of the overpaid underworked bureaucrat.

—Joann S. Lublin

Examples of overpay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Home Depot declined Fortune’s request for comment on whether the company overpaid in the GMS acquisition. —Jim Edwards, Fortune, 1 July 2025

There's no public figure on how many recipients have been overpaid, but the SSA tried to reclaim overpayments from about 2 million people in the fiscal year that ended September 2023, according to KFF and Cox Media Group, based on data acquired in a Freedom of Information Act request. —Mike Snider, USA Today, 30 June 2025

True top-four defensemen are hard to find, but that doesn’t mean a team has to substantially overpay for one who’s probably on the lower end of that scale. —Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 18 June 2025

If New Balance wants to overpay him in an effort to carve out market share, that’s its prerogative under the laws of capitalism. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overpay

• aaa
• adonais
• alleyway
• alumnae
• anime
• anyway
• arete
• attache
• baa
• beaujolais
• bouvier
• breakaway