overhearing

verb

present participle of overhear
as in hearing
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 overhearing The last season ended with Alex overhearing Cole’s dramatic love confession to Jackie and a cliffhanger about patriarch George’s health. — Madeleine Janz, PEOPLE, 1 Aug. 2026 Muraki admitted overhearing her comments about the home but denied handing a note during their first meeting. — Sacbee.com, 7 July 2026 The episode ends with Teddy getting a voicemail from Owen and overhearing a bridge collapse and car crash that may be fatal. — Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 1 May 2026 Another resident reported frequently overhearing arguing coming from the apartment. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 1 May 2026 The only real threat is a whistleblower, like an outcast kid overhearing the whole criminal scheme from the floor below his mother’s office. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2026 Haley began making the octopi after overhearing a nurse saying some would be helpful in the NICU. — ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026 The internal monologue is perhaps the more obvious choice for paranoid fiction, but by writing in dialogue, Dorfman puts us in the place of the listener with an ear pressed to a closed door, overhearing the anxious voices. — James Folta, Literary Hub, 5 Feb. 2026 Dogs also learned new object names by overhearing them. — Liz Regalia, Parents, 25 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overhearing
  1. hearing
  2. spying
  3. monitoring
  4. snooping
Verb
  • And then hearing Lane Johnson gush about Mannion’s scheme was interesting.
    — Brooks Kubena, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Veterinarians say consistency matters far more than hearing your voice.
    — Brittany Anas, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of hearing
Verb
  • Just across the sea lie North Korea, China and Russia, which all have powerful spying capacities that Japan isn’t fully equipped to fend off.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 31 July 2026
  • Turkish, Asian and Chinese brands flooded in at first, spying a once-in-a-generation opportunity to hoover up prime real estate.
    — Mark Faithfull, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of spying
Verb
  • While the likes of Ossola wait patiently for their cases to be resolved, others are carefully monitoring the situation.
    — Julia Buckley, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
  • With the rise of wearable technology (and a growing obsession with tracking our health), VO2 is now something many of us are monitoring.
    — Hannah Coates, Vogue, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of monitoring
Verb
  • Cady had injected some narcotic into a Georgia peach to knock Natalie out ahead of his confrontation with Crystal on the houseboat, but Ray snooping around on the Bowdens’s behalf led to this deadly improvisation.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 10 July 2026
  • Her mother has become a fan but didn’t start out that way, unaware her high school had a soccer team until Garbowski went snooping in an old yearbook.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 June 2026
Definition of snooping

Browse Nearby Words

overheard
overhearing
overhears
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Cite this Entry

“Overhearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overhearing. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on overhearing

Nglish: Translation of overhearing for Spanish Speakers

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