overrate

verb

over·​rate ˈō-vər-ˌrāt 

overrated; overrating; overrates

transitive verb

: to rate or value (someone or something) too highly

By grossly overrating the danger from Communist agents inside the United States, the scaremongering of the House Un-American Activities Committee boosted the impression that Communist monsters in general were a mythical breed.

—Norman Davies

… they have an undersized shooting guard … who so vastly overrates his abilities that he declined management's five-year, $50 million extension offer.

—Jack McCallum

see also overrated

Synonyms

• overestimate
• overvalue

Examples of overrate in a Sentence

The coach tends to overrate the players on his own team.

I think the critics seriously overrated that movie.

Recent Examples on the Web

Isolation defense is often overrated in the grand scheme of things, but there is still a great deal of value in being able to clip the wings of the best offensive players at your position. —Mat Issa, Forbes, 22 Nov. 2024

That is, of course, 134 teams: QB 56 RB 50 Receivers 45 OL 40 DL 5 LB 19 DB 30 ST 57 Remember that Steele has very consistently overrated the Huskers for the past couple decades. —Mitch Sherman, The Athletic, 7 Aug. 2024

But beneath its tone of self-congratulation, this consensus account underrates the costs of prolonging the war and overrates the risk of escalation that existed in 1951. —Mike Gallagher, Foreign Affairs, 26 July 2023

Starting pitching, catching and more Wheeler's 2025 NHL Draft mailbag: Is Porter Martone overrated? —New York Times, 6 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1599, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

overrate

verb

over·​rate ˌō-və(r)-ˈrāt 

: to rate, value, or estimate too highly

a book that was overrated