Thesaurus results for OVERREACH

overreach

verb

ˌō-vər-ˈrēch

Definition of overreach

as in to defeat

to get the better of through cleverness a real estate developer who is always trying to overreach his competitors, fair means or foul

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in to exceed

to go beyond the limit of the mountain climbers overreached their abilities and paid for it dearly

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 overreach Where supporters see government intervening to solve problems of everyday people struggling to afford groceries, others see a socialist mayor overreaching to take aim at a powerful symbol of America’s riches. — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2026 The grand jury subpoena was filed in April and was almost immediately met with resistance from Fulton County officials, who argued the request was overreaching and came from baseless claims of election fraud six years ago. — Irene Wright, USA Today, 8 July 2026 The first is treating agentic AI as overhyped due to demos that overreach. — Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026 In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party has opportunistically seized on air-conditioning, portraying it as an urgent quality-of-life issue that moralizing environmentalists and overreaching technocrats have ignored. — Thomas Chatterton Williams, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for overreach

Recent Examples of Synonyms for overreach

Verb

Sending a message to a friend in the same city seems, at least in my opinion, to defeat the purpose.

— Greta Cross, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Against this testing backdrop, Jakirovic guided Hull to an incredible promotion, defeating Middlesbrough 1-0 in May’s play-off final after finishing sixth in the regular campaign.

— Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of defeat

Verb

Fourteen people were on board, including him — exceeding the vessel’s maximum capacity of 10 people — according to the complaint, which noted that Hernandez did not know the boat’s maximum capacity.

— Joe Kottke, NBC news, 20 Aug. 2026
Since Palisades Village reopened on Saturday, owner and developer Rick Caruso said business is booming, noting that sales and foot traffic have exceeded pre-wildfire levels by three times.

— Julie Sharp, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of exceed

Verb

The 78-year-old had been indicted in April on charges related to what prosecutors said was a scheme to thwart public records requests received by the agency beginning in April 2020 related ⁠to Covid-19 research grants.

— Reuters, NBC news, 19 Aug. 2026
The 78-year-old had been indicted in April on charges related to what prosecutors said was a scheme to thwart public records requests received by the agency beginning in April 2020 related to COVID-19 research grants.

— Nate Raymond, USA Today, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of thwart

Verb

Worth more than world’s 500 richest people combined Entrepreneur Elon Musk made headlines in June when his net worth surpassed $1 trillion after the SpaceX initial public offering.

— John Towfighi, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026
Monthly trading volumes surpassed $37 billion in July, boosted by the World Cup.

— Carson Becker, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of surpass

Verb

Jury Duty has managed to deceive two unsuspecting do-gooders with civic duty and a company retreat.

— Peter White, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026
In this book’s scenario, an explosion at the Siberian lab sets loose a virus that has been designed to spread rapidly, deceive medical professionals, and produce a 100% fatality rate.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of deceive

Verb

And then, with the game in the balance, Taylor’s two 3-pointers over the Valkyries — against man-to-man defense — was too much to overcome.

— Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 22 Aug. 2026
This method could potentially be adapted for industrial manufacturing, but there were still limitations to overcome, with the biggest one being the quality of the material.

— Maryna Holovnova, New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of overcome

Verb

The characters' abilities are built around outmaneuvering, not outgunning.

— Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
For more than a decade, India’s leader Narendra Modi has seemed politically unassailable, presiding over a government that has outmaneuvered opponents, dominated public discourse and squeezed the space for dissent in the world’s biggest democracy.

— Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 28 July 2026

Definition of outmaneuver

Browse Nearby Words

overrating

overreach

overreached

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“Overreach.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overreach. Accessed 26 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of overreach

verb

Example Sentences

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