Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense overstates, present participle overstating, past tense, past participle overstated
verb
If you say that someone is overstating something, you mean they are describing it in a way that makes it seem more important or serious than it really is.
The authors no doubt overstated their case with a view to catching the public's attention. [VERB noun]
The importance of health education cannot be overstated. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: exaggerate, overdo, overestimate, overemphasize More Synonyms of overstate
overstate in British English
(ˌəʊvəˈsteɪt)
verb
(transitive)
to state too strongly; exaggerate or overemphasize
Derived forms
overstatement (ˈoverˌstatement)
noun
overstate in American English
(ˈoʊvərˌsteɪt)
verb transitiveWord forms: ˈoverˌstated or ˈoverˌstating
to give an extravagant or magnified account of (facts, truth, etc.); exaggerate
Derived forms
overstatement (ˈoverˌstatement)
noun
Examples of 'overstate' in a sentence
overstate
To suggest that she pretended with him would be to overstate: she did not exactly pretend, but played, as it were, to his idea of himself.
Salley Vickers INSTANCES OF THE NUMBER 3 (2002)
In other languages
overstate
British English: overstate VERB
If you say that someone is overstating something, you mean they are describing it in a way that makes it seem more important or serious than it really is.
The authors no doubt overstated their case with a view to catching the public's attention.
American English: overstate
Brazilian Portuguese: exagerar
Chinese: 夸大
European Spanish: exagerar
French: exagérer
German: übertreiben
Italian: esagerare
Japanese: 誇張する
Korean: 과장하다
European Portuguese: exagerar
Latin American Spanish: exagerar
(verb)
Definition
to state (something) too strongly
The importance of health education cannot be overstated.
Synonyms
exaggerate
He tends to exaggerate the importance of his job.
overdo
He overdid his usually quite funny vitriol.
overestimate
We must not overestimate the significance of this result.
overemphasize
Many schools overemphasize the importance of spelling.
emphasize too much
hyperbolize
Additional synonyms
in the sense of overdo
Definition
to exaggerate (something)
He overdid his usually quite funny vitriol.
Synonyms
exaggerate,
overstate,
overuse,
overplay,
do to death (informal),
belabour,
carry or take too far,
make a production (out) of (informal),
lay (something) on thick (informal)
in the sense of overemphasize
Definition
to give (something) more importance than is necessary or appropriate
Many schools overemphasize the importance of spelling.
Synonyms
exaggerate,
magnify,
inflate,
overdo,
amplify,
overstate,
make too much of,
belabour,
make a big thing of (informal),
blow up out of all proportion,
overstress,
overdramatize,
make a production (out) of (informal),
lay too much stress on,
make a federal case of (US, informal),
hyperbolize
in the sense of overestimate
Definition
to believe something or someone to be bigger, more important, or better than is the case
We must not overestimate the significance of this result.