Definition of overhearnext
as in to hear
to listen to (another in private conversation) it's not polite to try to overhear intimate friends sharing confidences

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of overhear Morales recalled overhearing Ramirez on the phone in January confiding in someone about her troubled relationship. — Theodore Parisienne, New York Daily News, 8 Oct. 2026 One morning at school, Frida spies bruises on Elia’s back and overhears her and Emmanuel talking about having been disciplined by their parents. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026 The founder who overhears the right conversation wasn’t looking for it. — Jennifer Hoffmann, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026 Because then Linnea overheard Carter and Ori strategizing in the shelter. — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for overhear
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overhear
Verb
  • The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a case about the role race plays in middle school admissions, three years after a majority on the high court struck down affirmative action in college.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Trying to exonerate herself, Erin lays out this confusing defense about how her makeup guy heard about Sai’s divorce at a beauty event.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The department under President Biden monitored 64 jurisdictions in 24 states on Election Day in the last midterm year, 2022.
    — Miles Parks, NPR, 22 Oct. 2026
  • For all its tests, the company builds realistic simulated environments, red teams these environments itself and with third parties to see whether they can be escaped, and monitors what agents do.
    — Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • The actress provided the voice of a technologically advanced, data-spying smart refrigerator.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Set the scene Eagle-eyed arrivals will first spy the new Six Senses across the improbably blue waters of northern Ibiza’s Cala Xarraca.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Overhear.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overhear. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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