How to Use overkill in a Sentence

overkill

noun

• Yes, we need a new car, but this huge truck seems like overkill.
• Skip the bug sprays, which are flammable and quite frankly, overkill.
  — Arricca Elin Sansone, Country Living, 29 Oct. 2019
• This is starting to feel like overkill.
  — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2026
• If any of these items sound like overkill to you, congrats!
  — Mary Shannon Wells, Southern Living, 12 Feb. 2026
• But what if—at least for some battery chemistries—that’s overkill?
  — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, 19 Nov. 2020
• For most players, this piece of kit is likely overkill.
  — New Atlas, 23 May 2026
• This one seems like overkill on the surface but is anything but.
  — Mark Stock, Men's Health, 24 Aug. 2022
• Is lighting your fire with a blowtorch overkill?
  — Graham Averill, Outside, 11 Oct. 2025
• Some experts wonder if that many big rate hikes would be overkill.
  — Paul R. La Monica, CNN, 1 Apr. 2022
• This is a great cooler, but the size is just going to be overkill for most folks.
  — Francesca Krempa, Bon Appetit Magazine, 7 Aug. 2025
• That’s overkill for this simple machine.
  — Noah Kaufman, Bon Appetit Magazine, 4 Sep. 2025
• But such measures may be overkill if most workers want to telecommute.
  — Kiera Feldman Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 19 May 2021
• The digital overkill at the end seems more like a laser light show than a finale.
  — Dan Lybarger, Arkansas Online, 5 Nov. 2021
• That might sound like overkill, but the palate tells a different story.
  — Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 31 Dec. 2023
• In this telling, the war’s opening act was a literal overkill.
  — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
• Given that the new vaccine results are good, that might look like overkill now.
  — Kai Kupferschmidt, Science | AAAS, 22 Mar. 2021
• But, too much of the stuff and the resulting overkill jumps the scale of the problem.
  — Anchorage Daily News, 23 May 2020
• The gimmicky live show hype, all that pomp and circumstance, seemed like overkill.
  — Helena Andrews-Dyer, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2023
• The sole, however, is overkill on smooth, flat trails, and is noisy and clunky on pavement.
  — Cory Smith, Outside Online, 18 Oct. 2022
• Like wearing a hazmat suit to the office, your last sentence is overkill.
  — Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2020
• The entire sandwich seems like overkill to me, which is probably the point.
  — al, 2 Mar. 2020
• But of course, at such a high price point, this may be overkill for those who simply need a writing device.
  — Zoë Hannah, Popular Mechanics, 20 Jan. 2023
• Others said the depressing amount of planning is overkill for those who just hate their jobs.
  — Jane Thier, Fortune, 3 Nov. 2022
• For slightly warmer days where a balaclava might be overkill, these masks will do the trick.
  — Merrell Readman, Travel + Leisure, 3 Feb. 2023
• Bullet holes will accomplish the same thing, but that's overkill, even for your data.
  — PCMAG, 21 Sep. 2022
• Face to face, calling the director often seems like overkill.
  — Deb Harvell, Arkansas Online, 21 Sep. 2025
• Annual exams may be overkill for some young adults with no signs of vision problems.
  — Claire Bugos, Verywell Health, 25 Sep. 2025
• The lyrics are relatable, but the addition of a church organ and gospel choir feels like overkill.
  — NBC News, 18 Sep. 2019
• Plus, the size is perfect for whittling or breezing through small tasks at base camp when a larger blade can feel like overkill.
  — Justin Park, Popular Mechanics, 7 July 2023
• Most players seem to think this is overkill, however, disabling the gun in all raids and dungeons for now.
  — Paul Tassi, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022