overt

adjective

ō-ˈvərt  ˈō-(ˌ)vərt 

: 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

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

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

Rhymes for overt

• alert
• assert
• avert
• dessert
• divert
• evert
• exert
• inert
• insert
• invert
• nightshirt
• revert

Kids Definition

overt

adjective

ō-ˈvərt  ˈō-(ˌ)vərt 

: 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