overrate
verb
over·rate
ˈō-vər-ˌrāt 
overrated; overrating; overrates
: to rate or value (someone or something) too highly
By grossly overrating the danger from Communist agents inside the United States, the scaremongering of the House Un-American Activities Committee boosted the impression that Communist monsters in general were a mythical breed.—
Norman Davies
Norman Davies… they have an undersized shooting guard … who so vastly overrates his abilities that he declined management's five-year, $50 million extension offer.—Jack McCallum
see also overrated
Jack McCallumExamples of overrate in a Sentence
The coach tends to overrate the players on his own team.
I think the critics seriously overrated that movie.
Recent Examples on the Web
Declan Chisholm is a serviceable depth defenseman, but the model overrates his contributions in sheltered usage.
—Harman Dayal, New York Times, 15 June 2025
Nate Schmidt’s surplus value is technically higher than Reinhart’s — and there’s no denying the former has been an excellent third-pair contributor since January onward — but Schmidt is an example of the model overrating a depth player on an elite team.
—Harman Dayal, New York Times, 15 June 2025
That leads one to wonder if Buckley and his team overrated his striking and failed to focus on Usman’s strengths leading into the fight.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025
That is overrated if a player isn’t any good (See Clark, Frank).
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for overrate
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Harman Dayal, New York Times, 15 June 2025
Nate Schmidt’s surplus value is technically higher than Reinhart’s — and there’s no denying the former has been an excellent third-pair contributor since January onward — but Schmidt is an example of the model overrating a depth player on an elite team.
—Harman Dayal, New York Times, 15 June 2025
That leads one to wonder if Buckley and his team overrated his striking and failed to focus on Usman’s strengths leading into the fight.
—Trent Reinsmith, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025
That is overrated if a player isn’t any good (See Clark, Frank).
—Troy Renck, Denver Post, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for overrate
Cite this Entry
“Overrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overrate. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
overrate
verb
over·rate
ˌō-və(r)-ˈrāt
: to rate, value, or estimate too highly
a book that was overrated
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