oversell

play

verb over·sell \ ˌō-vər-ˈsel \

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

—

oversell

play \ˈō-vər-ˌsel\ noun

See oversell defined for English-language learners

See oversell defined for kids

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 Max series is oversold through 2020, and capacity is finite for the model favored by budget carriers, Slattery said in an interview.

— julie johnsson, Bloomberg.com, "Boeing Tops Airbus in Air-Show Haul for First Time Since '12," 21 June 2017
Cool in more than one sense, those faint shades refuse to oversell themselves.

— joseph brogan, Ars Technica, "Some of the best art on Twitter comes from these strange little bots," 7 June 2017
Montagua club president, Pedro Atala, said the incident was caused by false ticket sales and denied his club were responsible for overselling tickets.

— matias grez, CNN, "Four killed in stampede at football final in Honduras," 29 May 2017
The flight was oversold, so the airline put me on standby for another overbooked flight on the same day and arriving in Orlando, Florida — more than two hours away from my desired destination.

— christopher elliott, The Seattle Times, "Bumped from my flight to Palm Beach — why won’t American pay up?," 27 May 2017
Hayes acknowledged flying can be stressful for many customers and highlighted ways his company tries to accommodate passengers, including not overselling their flights and providing free snacks and Wi-Fi.

— CBS News, "JetBlue CEO on dispute with family: "It was not about the birthday cake"," 16 May 2017
What a pleasure to hear a singer who doesn't oversell anything.

— howard reich, chicagotribune.com, "A breath of fresh air from singer Abigail Riccards at Winter's Jazz Club," 11 May 2017
Perhaps overselling was even reasonable a few years ago when airlines were losing billions.

— george hobica, chicagotribune.com, "It’s time for all airlines to stop overselling flights," 10 May 2017
Now the bid by airlines to mollify an outraged flying public has culminated with promised, eye-popping payments for your seat when a flight is oversold—up to $10,000 at United Continental Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.

— justin bachman, Bloomberg.com, "You’re Never Going to Get $10,000 for Your United Airlines Seat," 28 Apr. 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.

First Known Use of oversell

1576

OVERSELL Defined for English Language Learners

oversell

play

verb

Definition of oversell for English Language Learners

: to accept payment or reservations for more rooms, seats, tickets, etc., than you have available
: to praise (something or someone) too much

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See words that rhyme with oversell Britannica English: Translation of oversell for Arabic speakers

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oversell

Definition of oversell

oversell

Examples of oversell in a Sentence

Recent Examples of oversell from the Web

First Known Use of oversell

OVERSELL Defined for English Language Learners

oversell

Definition of oversell for English Language Learners

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oversell

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Examples of oversell in a Sentence

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First Known Use of oversell

OVERSELL Defined for English Language Learners

oversell

Definition of oversell for English Language Learners

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