oversell

verb over·sell \ ˌō-vər-ˈsel \

Updated on: 14 Apr 2018

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

Involuntary denied boarding, the term used when airlines oversell a flight and look for passengers to take later flights, improved among nearly all the major airlines.

— christopher muther, BostonGlobe.com, "Despite controversies, US airline performance improved in 2017," 9 Apr. 2018
Or all except John Kelly, now sidelined and castrated, and James Mattis, whose powers as a Trump minder may have been as oversold by the press as those of Kelly, Rex Tillerson, Gary Cohn, and H.R. McMaster were before him.

— frank rich, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Only Knows Chaos," 5 Apr. 2018
Despite the technology's obvious potential benefits, Clark is careful not to oversell it as a panacea for gun violence.

— zak koeske, Daily Southtown, "ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system, goes live in Calumet City," 4 Apr. 2018
Likening women’s tennis to the Wild West would oversell the vastness and chaos of the American frontier.

— jon wertheim, SI.com, "2018 Australian Open Seed Reports," 11 Jan. 2018
Marathe is carefully judicious about overselling the research.

— zoë schlanger, Newsweek, "Plantibodies Could Pave the Road to Wellness," 15 Dec. 2014
Don’t oversell accomplishments on your resume as only yours.

— grace donnelly, Fortune, "How to Land Your Next Job, According to Recruiters From the 'Best Companies to Work For'," 21 Feb. 2018
At times, the reader may feel that the book oversells its case.

— The Economist, "Capital in the 21st centuryBusinesses’ investment decisions can have unexpected consequences," 14 Dec. 2017
Like their human counterparts, robos may have a tendency to oversell their investing prowess.

— The Economist, "Silicon speculators," 26 Oct. 2017

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.