: open to view : manifest
overt hostility
overt symptoms of the disease
overt discrimination
both overt and covert military action
overtness noun

Examples of overt in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Allison cites a decline in overt sexism aimed at women’s sports, a fading narrative that women are inferior athletes, and less sexist media coverage of women’s sports. Ben Pickman, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025 The child’s name, Glen/Glenda, is an overt reference to Ed Wood’s cult camp classic Glen or Glenda, and the presence of the real Jennifer Tilly on the set of a fictional, in-universe Chucky movie only add’s to the film’s metatextual playfulness. Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025 The administration has taken more overt actions to censor, criticize, legally harass and demand money from news and other media platforms … than any American administration in the modern era. Ted Johnson, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2025 And, while there is, to be sure, a difference between straight news and overt opinion, the line where those genres meet is fuzzy, and inevitably subjective. Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for overt

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from past participle of ovrir to open, from Vulgar Latin *operire, alteration of Latin aperire

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of overt was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Overt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/overt. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

overt

adjective
: open to view : not secret
overt hostility
overtly adverb
overtness noun

Medical Definition

overt

adjective
ō-ˈvərt, ˈō-ˌvərt also ˈō-vərt
: open to view : readily perceived
overt behavior
overtly adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on overt

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