1
as in thwarting
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
2
as in exceeding
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 overreaching
But some Bay Area cities and counties already have decided that the Flock Safety tools are too overreaching.
—
Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
That caused some unease in the business community that Douglas County was overreaching.
—John Aguilar, Denver Post, 25 Feb. 2026
Commentators quickly pointed out that Anthropic itself has faced high‑profile accusations of overreaching in its own data collection practices beyond the copyright case from authors, such as a separate case over scraping Reddit content.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026
The president’s overreaching mass deportation policy will continue.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
But the agency's conservative critics have long accused the CFPB of overreaching, punishing small lenders and harming businesses.
—Stephan Bisaha, NPR, 21 Jan. 2026
Our norms and expectations are being shattered by an overreaching executive.
—Noah Feldman, Twin Cities, 25 Nov. 2025
That includes hackers lurking on public Wi-Fi, your internet service provider, or even an overreaching advertiser trying to build a profile on you.
—Ken Colburn, AZCentral.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Elected in 2012 amid the Tea Party movement, Massie has been a consistent critic of an overreaching federal government, of budget deficits and foreign interventionism.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 22 Oct. 2025
Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026
That caused some unease in the business community that Douglas County was overreaching.
—John Aguilar, Denver Post, 25 Feb. 2026
Commentators quickly pointed out that Anthropic itself has faced high‑profile accusations of overreaching in its own data collection practices beyond the copyright case from authors, such as a separate case over scraping Reddit content.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2026
The president’s overreaching mass deportation policy will continue.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
But the agency's conservative critics have long accused the CFPB of overreaching, punishing small lenders and harming businesses.
—Stephan Bisaha, NPR, 21 Jan. 2026
Our norms and expectations are being shattered by an overreaching executive.
—Noah Feldman, Twin Cities, 25 Nov. 2025
That includes hackers lurking on public Wi-Fi, your internet service provider, or even an overreaching advertiser trying to build a profile on you.
—Ken Colburn, AZCentral.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Elected in 2012 amid the Tea Party movement, Massie has been a consistent critic of an overreaching federal government, of budget deficits and foreign interventionism.
—The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 22 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overreaching
Verb
-
There are other ballot measure proposals aimed at thwarting the billionaires tax.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
-
In Florida, more and more government agencies are thwarting the public’s right to know, including attempts to hide the details behind Alligator Alcatraz, the temporary immigrant detention center built in the Florida Everglades in June 2025.—
David Cuillier,
The Conversation,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
In one high-volume manufacturing evaluation, Rhoda reported that a robot system completed a component-processing workflow in under two minutes per cycle without human intervention, exceeding customer performance targets.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Mar. 2026
-
In practice, silver moves 4% to 6% in a single day, with swings sometimes exceeding 10%, notes Jeremy Mullin, a stock strategist at money management firm Zacks Investment Research in Chicago.—
Sharon Wu,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Nope, that's not your eyes deceiving you.—
Christina Perrier,
InStyle,
15 Mar. 2026
-
There is the belief, one expressed by Payton, that free agents can be deceiving.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Anze Kopitar became the Kings’ all-time leading scorer Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, surpassing Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne’s franchise record.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Junior Caminero hit a solo drive off Skenes in the second to give the Dominicans a record 15 homers in the tournament, surpassing the mark set by Mexico in 2009.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
15 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
His Jayhawks went 1-1 at the Big 12 tournament, defeating TCU 78-73 on Thursday before getting clobbered by Houston 69-47 in Friday’s semifinals.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
16 Mar. 2026
-
When Alejandro Bran struck a volley from 24 yards out last week at BMO Stadium, the Costa Rican delivered a lightning strike that LD Alajuelense needed in order to have a chance of defeating the Los Angeles Football Club.—
Josh Gross,
Daily News,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The Strategic Powerhouses These names are inspired by women who lead with their minds, outmaneuvering everyone in the room.—
Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal,
Parents,
19 Feb. 2026
-
Ian Terry won Big Brother season 14 at just 21 years old, becoming the show’s youngest champion after outmaneuvering veteran players with a quiet — but highly calculated — game.—
Samantha Stutsman,
PEOPLE,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Ensuring the power supply is reliable, as well as overcoming regulation, will also be key, Hernandez said.—
April Roach,Gaelle Legrand,
CNBC,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Having won the competition set by her late, estranged father Alexandre (Stanley Weber) to determine the heir to his wine empire, Camille Leger (Fleur Geffrier) took an important step toward overcoming Alexandre’s toxic emotional legacy.—
Alison Herman,
Variety,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Folktales are filled with people fighting to survive in forests, steppes, and deserts, and evading and outwitting the wild beasts that dwell within them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Feb. 2026
-
The characters here, though, are nowhere near so smart as those conniving pagans and can only dream of outwitting the sophisticated folk from the mainland, coming there with their talk of cake, and comfy chairs, and their lies.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Overreaching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overreaching. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
