overture

1 of 2

noun

over·ture ˈō-vər-ˌchu̇r

ˈō-və-,

-chər,

-ˌtyu̇r,

-ˌtu̇r

Synonyms of overture next

: an initiative toward agreement or action : proposal

: something introductory : prelude

: the orchestral introduction to a musical dramatic work

: an orchestral concert piece written especially as a single movement in sonata form

overture

2 of 2

verb

overtured; overturing

transitive verb

: to put forward as an overture

: to make or present an overture to

Examples of overture in a Sentence

Noun The government has made a significant peace overture by opening the door to negotiation. the parade down Main Street served as the overture for a weekend of fun and festivities

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Those early days of childlike wonder eventually turned into serious musical overtures. —

Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2023 How have Israel and the Palestinians responded to Beijing’s overtures? —

Lyric Li, Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2023 Jim Jordan has gained the support of many former skeptics in recent days, perhaps because his overtures to them predated the current speaker battle. —

Molly Ball, WSJ, 18 Oct. 2023 Administration officials have been pushing for an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but Biden also has faced criticism for his past attempts to make overtures to the controversial Saudi leader. —

Karishma Mehrotra, Washington Post, 9 Sep. 2023 The overture was crisp, lively, and, blessedly, unrushed. —

Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 27 Aug. 2023 This was both an overture to foreign business and a kind of domestic glasnost. —

Han Zhang, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023 But despite recent apparent overtures to the Hamas leadership, the officials say Hamas has shown no real willingness to partake in diplomacy up to this point. —

Alexandra Hutzler, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2023 Similarly, the high death toll among Palestinian civilians would complicate any overtures the Saudis might have been willing to make toward Israel. —

Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overture.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.