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

At Tom Ford, Haider Ackermann explored a similar expression of the street at Paris Fashion Week, but his was charged with an overt kind of sensuality that made some in the audience blush. —José Criales-Unzueta, Vanity Fair, 7 Mar. 2026

War Machine makes 81’s reluctance to give pep talks, or even try to ingratiate himself with his comrades-in-arms, the subject of one of its very few overt jokes. —Chris Klimek, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2026

On Elon Musk’s X and among influential right-wing thinkers like Curtis Yarvin, the fixation is even more overt. —Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 5 Mar. 2026

Lovern has drawn a distinction between overt dishonesty and credibility rulings, when a judge determines an officer’s testimony does not match the evidence and finds an officer not credible. —Ashley Luthern, jsonline.com, 5 Mar. 2026

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