overpay

verb

over·​pay ˌō-vər-ˈpā 

overpaid ˌō-vər-ˈpād  ; overpaying

transitive + intransitive

: to pay too much to someone or for something

… the debate over whether organic foods are a smart choice for healthier living or a marketing tool that gulls people into overpaying.

—Kenneth Chang

It took my husband and me an hour with a representative to figure out we were overpaying for insurance and unlimited data plans.

—Tanisha A. Sykes

Be careful not to overpay state taxes.

—Carl T. Hall

We are not overpaying people; we are paying people what the market demands.

—Renee Glover

overpaid adjective

… fuels the negative stereotype of the overpaid underworked bureaucrat.

—Joann S. Lublin

Examples of overpay in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Some experts argue that a firm’s top leaders need to be paid more to go toe-to-toe on a global stage, while others think CEOs are being overpaid in comparison to the average employee. —Eleanor Pringle, Fortune Europe, 30 May 2024

One reason for the disparity is the Comcast accounting fiasco, in which the company overpaid the Pac-12 Networks over the course of a decade. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 24 May 2024

In other cases, the school didn’t verify services had occurred before giving out payment, such as in the case of a sign language interpreters the school hired and significantly overpaid, the report says. —Dana Munro, Baltimore Sun, 10 May 2024

The goals of these assessments are to ensure that society does not overpay for new medications, but also does not inadvertently discourage the development of worthwhile medicines and other health technologies. —Jason Shafrin, STAT, 6 May 2024

Prices above treatment value means Americans are overpaying for some drugs: The cost of the treatment is more than the value of health benefits to patients and broader society such as caregivers and communities. —Jason Shafrin, STAT, 6 May 2024

The agencies’ letter alleged that Rocky Mountain Health Plans, a subsidiary of United Healthcare that administers Medicaid on the Western Slope, overpaid West Springs by $6.6 million in the fiscal year that ended in June 2023, and by at least $6.5 million in the current fiscal year. —Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, 1 May 2024

Though the audit sought to learn just how much EDD overpaid, getting a reliable estimate became a struggle. —David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 18 Apr. 2024

Over a half dozen real estate experts told The Bee the city almost certainly overpaid for the building. —Joe Rubin, Sacramento Bee, 25 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined above