overpraise

1 of 2

verb

over·​praise ˌō-vər-ˈprāz How to pronounce overpraise (audio)
overpraised; overpraising

transitive verb

: to praise (someone or something) to an excessive degree
overpraising a mediocre film
He knows he is dealing with a complex personality, someone who has in the past been both overpraised and condemned to excess.John Clive

overpraise

2 of 2

noun

over·​praise ˈō-vər-ˌprāz How to pronounce overpraise (audio)
: an excessive amount of praise
Overpraise can lead to bad habits, some of them incurable—trying to repeat that thing you did so marvelously.Wilfrid Sheed

Examples of overpraise in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Know-nothings pretend that Schrader’s Bressonian mannerisms reveal the spiritual depths of contemporary crisis, when, in fact, Master Gardener repeats the same social-collapse paranoia that made secular reviewers overpraise the religious, racial, suicide-bomber topics of First Reformed. Armond White, National Review, 24 May 2023 He’s overpraised of course. Nick Laird, The New York Review of Books, 16 Mar. 2023 As in the case of that picture, East of Eden is backed up by masterful screen storytelling that can hardly be overpraised and is complicated by no message that can be termed controversial. Jack Moffitt, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Mar. 2023 Our praise reflex leans toward the superlative in this dank information age, an era when the only artists who transcend the digital noise seem to be the ones whose music gets overpraised on social media for being the most this or the best that. Chris Richards, Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2023 Vincent Canby’s review in The New York Times seemed hesitant to overpraise the film, which was based on James Leo Herlihy’s 1965 novel of the same name. New York Times, 2 June 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overpraise.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1691, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of overpraise was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near overpraise

Cite this Entry

“Overpraise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overpraise. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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