OVERTAKES Synonyms: 10 Similar and Opposite Words

overtakes

verb

present tense third-person singular of overtake

as in catches

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

falls short

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 overtakes That way, no plant overtakes another. —

Tessa Cooper, The Spruce, 17 Apr. 2026 If hairy bittercress overtakes your lawn, mow frequently in early spring to remove as many flowers as possible. —

Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 11 Apr. 2026 The convergence of Iowa State fans to Power & Light or the sea of blue that overtakes downtown this week or the plethora of NBA general managers in the front rows offered enough of a reminder that Kansas City didn’t need. —

Sam McDowell, Kansas City Star, 13 Mar. 2026 Paranoia overtakes several players who vie for protection. —

Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 3 Mar. 2026 When exhaustion overtakes them, something more sinister comes creeping from the shadows. —

Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 Feb. 2026 Afterward, Agnes and I were felled by the kind of hunger that overtakes only those who have exerted themselves in cold weather. —

Boris Fishman, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026 The show overtakes confrontation, less as a strategy than as a compromise no one remembers agreeing to. —

Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2026 Opposition occurs when Earth, moving faster in its orbit than Jupiter, overtakes the giant planet. —

Joe Rao, Space.com, 7 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for overtakes

Verb

If a passenger catches a fish during an excursion, it must be shipped home.

— Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 16 Apr. 2026
Two years after opening Smoke Queen Barbecue’s first brick-and-mortar location in Garden Grove, Winnie Yee, one of the country’s few female pitmasters, still sometimes catches herself looking around the restaurant in disbelief.

— Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 14 Apr. 2026