overstate en · VERB
Pronunciation
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *stéh₂-tu-s ~ *sth₂-téw-s Proto-Italic *status Latin statuslbor. Old French estatbor. Middle English stat English state English overstate From over- + state.
Meanings
- (transitive) To state or claim too much.
-
(transitive) To exaggerate; to state or claim to a greater degree than reality.
Career diplomat Conrad Tribble said on Twitter that multiculturalism “is one of our greatest strengths as a country, and I go to that well often as an American diplomat. It’s hard to overstate the global soft power impact of America’s cultural diversity.”
2021 January 19, Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood and Nicole Gaouette, “Pompeo attacks multiculturalism, saying it is ‘not who America is’”, in CNN:In a closely reasoned article in The Guardian, Mr. D. L. Munby, Oxford University's Reader in the Economics and Organisation of Transport, has taken Dr. Beeching to task for overstating his case for withdrawing stopping train services as money-losers.
1963 July, “News and Comment: Dr. Beeching's overstatement”, in Modern Railways, page 3:He was suggested not to overstate at the interview.
I think it is overstating matters to say that an hour online is spending all night on the computer.
A Nobel prize-winning US biologist, who has been widely quoted describing a “smoking gun” to support the thesis that Covid-19 was genetically modified and escaped from a Wuhan lab, has said he overstated the case.
2021 June 9, Peter Beaumont, “Leading biologist dampens his ‘smoking gun’ Covid lab leak theory”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| overstating | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| overstated | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| overstated | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| overstates | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Antonyms
underrate · understate · misunderestimate · underjudge · underreckon · understate · deprecate · underguess · sell short · underdo · underestimate · understate · underestimate · underapproximate
Deriveds
Synonyms
play up · overstate · overestimate · overreckon · exaggerate · overstate · overdo · cut it fat · overdo · stretch · overemphasize · three-sheet · overapproximate · overrate · overthink · hyperbolize · hyperbolize · overreckon · big up · overhold · overapproximate · exaggerate · overcharge
Translations (22)
uk перебі́льшити (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · bg преувеличавам (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · cmn 言過其實 /言过其实 (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · es sobreestimar (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · es hiperbolizar (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · it esagerare (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · it gonfiare (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · uk перебі́льшувати (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · pt exagerar (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · de übertreiben (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · fr exagérer (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · cs přehánět (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · it sopravvalutare (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · gd cuir am meud (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · es exagerar (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · sh pretjerivati (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · fi liioitella (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · sh pretjerati (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · cmn 誇張 /夸张 (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · es supervalorar (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · ba арттырыу (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much) · cmn 誇大 /夸大 (to exaggerate; to state or claim too much)