as in caught
to move fast enough to get even with
she had to hurry to overtake her friends, who had forgotten their umbrellas the thunderstorm overtook them suddenly
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Recent Examples of overtaken
As the vehicle was carried into a wash north of West Main Street, it was overtaken by floodwaters, separating Aguilera-Padilla and Xavier, who had managed to exit the vehicle.
—
Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
Kingsnorth is surely right that public life has been overtaken by a narrow fixation on data and measurement.
—Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Initially designed as a play place for tots, it had been overtaken by the homeless and used as a bathroom.
—Jeff Pearlman, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, European soccer body UEFA had been weighing a vote to suspend Israeli teams from its competitions before that was overtaken this month by the ceasefire in Gaza.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
In viewing figures, both have been overtaken by microdramas.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
Blazy exaggerated the frayed hems that Coco Chanel loved into ragged edges by letting the cloth be overtaken slowly with tiny hanging strings of beads.
—Nathan Heller, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2025
Renewable outputs have overtaken coal worldwide.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Oct. 2025
Despite launching a solo attack from 82km out from the finish, United States champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl Trek) finished in fourth, overtaken by Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) who rounded up the podium.
—Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025
Kingsnorth is surely right that public life has been overtaken by a narrow fixation on data and measurement.
—Cal Revely-Calder, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Initially designed as a play place for tots, it had been overtaken by the homeless and used as a bathroom.
—Jeff Pearlman, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025
Meanwhile, European soccer body UEFA had been weighing a vote to suspend Israeli teams from its competitions before that was overtaken this month by the ceasefire in Gaza.
—Jackson Thompson, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2025
In viewing figures, both have been overtaken by microdramas.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 16 Oct. 2025
Blazy exaggerated the frayed hems that Coco Chanel loved into ragged edges by letting the cloth be overtaken slowly with tiny hanging strings of beads.
—Nathan Heller, Vogue, 14 Oct. 2025
Renewable outputs have overtaken coal worldwide.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Oct. 2025
Despite launching a solo attack from 82km out from the finish, United States champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl Trek) finished in fourth, overtaken by Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) who rounded up the podium.
—Jessica Hopkins, New York Times, 11 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overtaken
Verb
-
When their 30-foot boat caught fire, the Sullivans were forced to swim to shore for safety, according to ABC News.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Combined with an intense summer heat wave, the surge caught many residents off guard, said Alex Ambrose, a transportation and climate policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective.—
Sharon Goldman,
Fortune,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The Leafs chased the Kraken around the Toronto zone for extended periods, failing to control play as Stolarz tried and mostly excelled in keeping his team in it.—
Jonas Siegel,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Local news channels later reported that the vehicles had chased the man after a raid at a nearby car wash.—
J. David McSwane,
ProPublica,
18 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overtaken.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overtaken. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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