oversell

verb over·sell \ ˌō-vər-ˈsel \

|Updated on: 8 Jun 2018

Examples: oversell in a Sentence

Definition of oversell

oversold play \ˌō-vər-ˈsōld\; overselling

transitive verb

1 a : to sell too much or too many to

b : to sell too much or too many of

2 : to make excessive claims for

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oversell

play \ˈō-vər-ˌsel\ noun

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Examples of oversell in a Sentence

Hotels routinely oversell their rooms, expecting a small percentage of no-shows.
Don't oversell yourself in the job interview.
The salesman oversold the features on the new model.

Recent Examples of oversell from the Web

The charter-school advocates, including the CEO of Netflix and a Republican megadonor, attacked Newsom for skipping work as lieutenant governor, overselling his achievements and mismanaging San Francisco as mayor.

— angela hart, sacbee, "Gavin Newsom heads toward general election in California governor's race," 5 June 2018
Some political observers think Cambridge Analytica oversold its ad targeting capabilities, but questions still emerged about the firm’s work for the Trump campaign.

— jen kirby, Vox, "The feds are reportedly investigating Cambridge Analytica," 16 May 2018
One mainstay of the Trump era is reporters are constantly wary of overselling the salience of the political moment.

— aaron blake, Washington Post, "The Trump White House crossed a new threshold for political debasement this week," 12 May 2018
The Fallows don’t want to oversell the extent of this grassroots energy.

— patrick sisson, Curbed, "Our Towns: How small cities aren’t just surviving, but thriving," 9 May 2018
The Hong Kong shares have been either oversold or overbought -- and often both -- every year since its 2002 initial public offering in the city.

— Bloomberg.com, "Shares in a Buffett-Backed Chinese Car Company Are Getting Crushed," 2 May 2018
That is kind of funny, but then Hogsett tried to oversell hoops in the Hoosier state.

— pete grathoff, kansascity, "Indianapolis mayor says 'Indiana is the center of the basketball universe' | The Kansas City Star," 27 Apr. 2018
His tendency to oversell may have also proven his undoing when a documentary crew taped him suggesting his company could deploy entrapment tactics to smear clients’ opponents.

— david z. morris, Fortune, "Cambridge Analytica Wasn’t Quite What It Claimed to Be," 25 Mar. 2018
If the primacy of family has been oversold as a key to long life, so has the importance of avoiding conflict or emotional upset.

— jeffrey kluger, Time, "The Surprising Secrets to Living Longer — And Better," 15 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'oversell.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.