overrated

adjective

over·​rat·​ed ˌō-vər-ˈrā-təd 

: rated or valued too highly

an overrated book/movie/restaurant

The reign of James I is under scrutiny again. For too long this king has been the victim of literary pastiche, deployed as a foil to the fleeing glory of the overrated Elizabeth I.

—J. A. Guy

… Garrick had arranged for a member of the audience (a fellow actor), dressed as a Frenchified fop, to complain—as connoisseurs of French literary taste had complained for generations—that Shakespeare was vulgar, provincial, and overrated.

—Jonathan Bate

Examples of overrated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And a discussion about whether Alperen Şengün really is the league’s most overrated player. —Zach Harper, New York Times, 7 May 2026

So, what better way to celebrate one of the most revered hours of television ever than to go through what are, in my humble opinion, four of the most overrated TV episodes of all time. —Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 6 May 2026

Decorating for the Holidays Texas designer Ali Burgoon Nolan finds decorating for holidays and seasons to be a bit overrated. —Lauren Jones, Southern Living, 9 Apr. 2026

Illustration by Celia Jacobs Springtime, at least in New York City, is, in this writer’s humble opinion, somewhat overrated. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1586, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for overrated

• abdicated
• abrogated
• acclimated
• activated
• actuated
• adumbrated
• advocated
• aggravated
• aggregated
• agitated
• allocated
• alternated