as in to reject
to decide that (something or someone) is wrong; to rule against (something or someone)
The judge overruled the objection. His conviction was overruled by the supreme court.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar 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 overrule
The felony charge was quickly dismissed, but the magistrate who made that decision was overruled by Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Stacey DeGraffenreid.
—
Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer, 1 Oct. 2025
DeSantis signed a bill this year preempting local governments from blocking development of a presidential library, aiming to overrule potential opposition in liberal-leaning counties or municipalities.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2025
However, last week, the Civilian Complaint Review Board voted to overrule the investigator who found Alongi and Cianfrocco innocent, finding the pair of officers in violation of using excessive force and abusing their authority.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2025
District 5 Commissioner Mike Kane motioned to overrule each veto.
—Sofi Zeman, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overrule
Cameron Knight, Cincinnati Enquirer, 1 Oct. 2025
DeSantis signed a bill this year preempting local governments from blocking development of a presidential library, aiming to overrule potential opposition in liberal-leaning counties or municipalities.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2025
However, last week, the Civilian Complaint Review Board voted to overrule the investigator who found Alongi and Cianfrocco innocent, finding the pair of officers in violation of using excessive force and abusing their authority.
—Mason Leath, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2025
District 5 Commissioner Mike Kane motioned to overrule each veto.
—Sofi Zeman, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overrule
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overrule
Verb
-
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals later rejected a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel against him.—
Amy Yurkanin,
ProPublica,
9 Oct. 2025
-
The Senate rejected Democratic and Republican plans to reopen the government Thursday, its seventh attempt to break the stalemate.—
David Lightman,
Sacbee.com,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
And Tucker Carlson has gained attention with his own programming distributed via social and digital media, Their audiences can be smaller and more disparate than the ones that come to mainstream news outlets, but in an era of cord-cutting, their niche power is not to be dismissed.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
9 Oct. 2025
-
In February, following a SAG Award win for her breakout role in Shōgun, Anna Sawai dismissed rumors that she had been cast as Yoko Ono for the film series.—
Sophie Williams,
Billboard,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Both initially denied the affair, though Rimes later admitted to it.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
-
This is what happens when any people and their history are denied, forgotten, declared disposable.—
Kevin Powell,
MSNBC Newsweek,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
What isn’t known — and what university and fraternity officials have refused to discuss — is what happened in the basement of the three-story house in the 1300 block of West Campus Road, before the young man lost consciousness.—
Judy L. Thomas,
Kansas City Star,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Thomas, alas, can refuse any trade after taking the qualifying offer this summer and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026.—
John Hollinger,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
White’s legal team challenged it, and in late 2022 an appeals court ruled that the judge had erred in not letting White withdraw his guilty plea.—
Eren Orbey,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
In January, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger also withdrew from West African regional bloc Ecowas, having earlier formed their own Alliance of Sahel States grouping.—
Preeti Jha,
semafor.com,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Prizegivers have also in the past been accused of being snobbish, of having an anti-American bias and of ignoring some of the giants of literature, including Russia's Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, France's Emile Zola and Ireland's James Joyce.—
Simon Johnson,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Hoping the broadcasts ignore that will always be a fruitless endeavor.—
Patrick Iversen,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overrule.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overrule. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share