as in to stereotype
to use so much as to make less appealing
she had overused that joke to the point where it was eliciting groans and not guffaws
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overuse
John Fisher/Getty Images Miller has predicted that Misiorowski will serve as the Brewers closer in the postseason, citing Milwaukee's concern for overusing him in the rotation.
—
Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
That’s important, since many people make the mistake—both in the gym and daily life—of shrugging their shoulders up to their ears, which overuses the upper traps and elevates the scapula.
—Jenny McCoy, SELF, 25 Aug. 2025
Lighting is often overused at night.
—Harold Wallace, Space.com, 16 Aug. 2025
That also means there’s less risk of accidentally overusing them.
—Iman Balagam, Vogue, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for overuse
Andrew Wright, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
That’s important, since many people make the mistake—both in the gym and daily life—of shrugging their shoulders up to their ears, which overuses the upper traps and elevates the scapula.
—Jenny McCoy, SELF, 25 Aug. 2025
Lighting is often overused at night.
—Harold Wallace, Space.com, 16 Aug. 2025
That also means there’s less risk of accidentally overusing them.
—Iman Balagam, Vogue, 26 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for overuse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overuse
Verb
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For decades, the profession has been stereotyped as a world of calculators and spreadsheets, quietly humming in the background of business.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
7 Sep. 2025
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But while working mom and trad wife stereotypes reign online and in popular culture, many moms fall somewhere in between those two tropes.—
Madeline Mitchell,
USA Today,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
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United’s decade-plus of footballing dysfunction owes a partial debt to hiring processes that can make sense in the moment, but leave head coaches overexposed.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
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If most of your liabilities reprice simultaneously, you’re overexposed.—
Meelan Gupta,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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In the late 1980s while working as anchor for KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, Knapp rose to fame helping popularize the claims of UFO-lore stalwarts Bob Lazar and John Lear.—
Brett Tingley,
Space.com,
8 Sep. 2025
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The news highlights a movement to popularize a gesture to signal distress to passersby.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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His versions were full-blooded, with lush strings and reasonably large orchestras — and, purists alleged — vulgarizing distortions.—
BostonGlobe.com,
BostonGlobe.com,
28 Oct. 2019
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Ever since his rise to power, Trump has served as a vulgarizing agent.—
Leon Neyfakh,
Slate Magazine,
2 June 2017
Verb
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With all other options seemingly exhausted, Una and Spock decide to take another path by getting in touch with their crewmates’ katras, roughly the Vulcan term for the soul, though the Vulcans would probably not want to use that term.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
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Jones remained on Ohio's death row for decades, exhausting most of his appeals, until Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Wende Cross overturned his murder conviction, freed him from prison and granted him a new trial two years ago.—
Dan Horn,
The Enquirer,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The worst part of this tax is that Illinois Democrats, in their desperation for more revenue, ended up encouraging more casual bettors to overdo it and get into financial trouble.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Sep. 2025
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But the actor slips into the role flawlessly (with the help of good makeup), never overdoing it and adding a fair amount of gravitas to the constantly shifting scenery.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Too often, developments of this size that pop up on virgin ground get lost to boring cookie-cutter street scaping and architecture.—
The Denver Post Editorial Board,
Denver Post,
10 Sep. 2025
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The approach is complemented by heavy use of the Estevez brothers’ childhood Super 8 movies, genre-bending DIY productions that Charlie notes often bore similarities to the movies their father was making at the time.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Overuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overuse. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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