Meaning & use
overrate
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Meaning
verbtransitive
To think that someone or something is better than they really are.
Grammar: Takes an object: 'Critics overrate his early work.' Often passive: 'He is overrated.'
Patterns
- overrate someone/something
- be overrated
- widely overrated
I think people overrate this restaurant; the food is just average.
His talent was overrated by the media.
Many critics say the novel is overrated.
Word forms
| third person singular | overrates |
|---|---|
| past tense | overrated |
| past participle | overrated |
| -ing form | overrating |
Common combinations
- highly overrated
- The hotel was highly overrated and very expensive.
- overrate someone's ability
- Don't overrate your ability to finish the project alone.
- be overrated as
- He is overrated as a manager.
- vastly overrated
- The band is vastly overrated in my opinion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- overestimate
- Overestimate is used for numbers or amounts (e.g. costs), while overrate is about judging quality or value.
- overvalue
- Overvalue is more formal and often about money or assets, not general quality.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: overrate or underrate? overrate or overreact?
overrate vs underrate
Underrate means to think too little of someone; overrate means to think too much of them.
overrate vs overreact
Overreact means to react too strongly; overrate is about judging value.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
Overrate is transitive and takes a direct object without a preposition. Option An is correct; the others add unnecessary prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “overrate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.