Meaning & use
overruled
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“overruled” is a form of “overrule”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Used a higher authority to reject or cancel a decision or opinion made by someone with less power.
Grammar: Takes an object: the manager overruled the team.
Patterns
- overruled someone
- overruled a decision
The director overruled her assistant and approved the budget.
The board overruled the plan after weeks of complaints.
His parents overruled his choice and made him stay in school.
verbtransitivelegal
Declared in a court that a legal objection, or an earlier court's ruling, is not valid.
Grammar: Takes an object: the judge overruled the objection.
Patterns
- overruled an objection
- overruled a precedent
The judge overruled the lawyer's objection and let the witness continue.
The Supreme Court overruled its earlier decision in a landmark case.
The appeals court overruled the lower court's verdict.
Word forms
| base form | overrule |
|---|---|
| third person singular | overrules |
| -ing form | overruling |
Common combinations
- overruled by a judge
- The objection was overruled by the judge.
- overruled a veto
- Congress overruled a veto with a two-thirds vote.
- unanimously overruled
- The panel unanimously overruled the earlier ruling.
- overruled on appeal
- The sentence was overruled on appeal.
- overruled the objection
- The referee overruled the objection from the coach.
Synonyms and how they differ
- overturned
- Overturned focuses on the result of a ruling being reversed, while overruled also names the act of the person with authority setting it aside.
- vetoed
- Vetoed means formally blocking a proposal before it takes effect, whereas overruled usually cancels something already decided.
- overrode
- Overrode is the past tense of override and fits when a rule or feeling is set aside, but it is not used for a judge rejecting an objection.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: overruled or overruled / overridden?
overruled vs overruled / overridden
Overruled is used for decisions or objections, while overridden is more common for rules, automatic settings or strong feelings.
Practice
The defense lawyer objected, but the judge ______ the objection and let the question stand.
Choose one answer.
A judge who rejects an objection overrules it. Sustained would mean the judge accepted it, so the question would not be allowed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “overruled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.