outstay
verb
out·stay
ˌau̇t-ˈstā 
outstayed; outstaying; outstays
1
: overstay
outstayed their welcome
2
: to surpass in staying power
outstayed his competitors
Examples of outstay in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Better to outstay your welcome than give it all up too soon.
—
Phil Hay, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Boy never outstays its welcome, and the spooky goings-on lead to a climax when a ghostly black figure that has been haunting Indy finally, monstrously, appears to pull Todd to hell.
—Laura Martin, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
Lexx reinvented itself each season, and Season 3 — set on the planets of Fire and Water — didn't outstay its welcome at 13 episodes.
—Chris McMullen, Space.com, 2 Aug. 2025
And at less than two hours with an intermission, the show doesn’t outstay its welcome.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2025
The overbearing Dawn, who has outstayed her welcome in what was supposed to be a temporary lockdown solution, is not Joe’s only headache at home.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2025
Social media trends come and go, but one craze that appears to have outstayed its welcome is the desire to mock millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996).
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
But at two hours, Islands outstays its welcome, allowing much of the tension to leak out of it in a protracted concluding stretch.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2025
There are infinite ways for SNL to be unbearable: a sketch outstays its welcome, the rookie featured player keeps flubbing his lines, the writers forgo jokes altogether and instead force us to listen to a bizarre piano ballad in an attempt to say something earnest about politics.
—Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 13 Feb. 2025
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Phil Hay, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
Boy never outstays its welcome, and the spooky goings-on lead to a climax when a ghostly black figure that has been haunting Indy finally, monstrously, appears to pull Todd to hell.
—Laura Martin, Vulture, 6 Oct. 2025
Lexx reinvented itself each season, and Season 3 — set on the planets of Fire and Water — didn't outstay its welcome at 13 episodes.
—Chris McMullen, Space.com, 2 Aug. 2025
And at less than two hours with an intermission, the show doesn’t outstay its welcome.
—Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2025
The overbearing Dawn, who has outstayed her welcome in what was supposed to be a temporary lockdown solution, is not Joe’s only headache at home.
—David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2025
Social media trends come and go, but one craze that appears to have outstayed its welcome is the desire to mock millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996).
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
But at two hours, Islands outstays its welcome, allowing much of the tension to leak out of it in a protracted concluding stretch.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2025
There are infinite ways for SNL to be unbearable: a sketch outstays its welcome, the rookie featured player keeps flubbing his lines, the writers forgo jokes altogether and instead force us to listen to a bizarre piano ballad in an attempt to say something earnest about politics.
—Rebecca Jennings, Vox, 13 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Outstay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outstay. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
outstay
verb
out·stay
(ˈ)au̇t-ˈstā
1
: to stay beyond or longer than
outstayed their welcome
2
: to be able to hold out longer than
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