as in to stereotype
to use so much as to make less appealing
she had overused that joke to the point where it was eliciting groans and not guffaws
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of overuse
When pelvic floor muscles are being overused, used improperly, or are weak, your running gait may be less efficient and powerful, Rogers says.
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Jordan Smith, Outside, 11 Sep. 2025
Annabelle has been in so many movies now, to the point of being overused (the real doll has even been suspected of paranormal activity recently).
—Dani Di Placido, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025
The redemption story is overused in sports, but Anisimova coming back from a double-bagel Wimbledon final defeat against Iga Świątek to beat the same player a couple of months later was extraordinary.
—The Athletic Tennis Staff, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Just like credit scores today, which are, at best, meaningful heuristics but are grossly overused, the technology sometimes became a substitute for common sense.
—Brian Hamilton, Fortune, 1 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for overuse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overuse
Verb
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Symptoms such as hot flashes and mood changes are well known, and often stereotyped, but experts worldwide want to highlight that women face a huge range of changes to their bodies during the menopause – and lack of awareness means many will start experiencing symptoms without knowing why.—
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Among many challenges, the next president of the church will navigate how to lead a global church from its American headquarters – a church that continues to be misunderstood and stereotyped, sometimes to the point of violence.—
Verb
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If there's too much ambient light, night mode might let in too much and overexpose your photos.—
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Unfortunately, Showgirl is the sound of an overworked and overexposed entertainer reaching the mountaintop to find something worse than disappointment: burnout.—
Verb
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Skype was founded in 2003 to popularize video call technology.—
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Remember, this is the same woman who helped popularize the platinum mini classics that broke ankles for multiple winter seasons.—
Verb
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His versions were full-blooded, with lush strings and reasonably large orchestras — and, purists alleged — vulgarizing distortions.—
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Ever since his rise to power, Trump has served as a vulgarizing agent.—
Verb
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The thought of having to tell the story of his illness again, even to herself, exhausts her.—
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Though designed to work alongside humans, Atlas is engineered to operate in conditions that would exhaust most human workers.—
Verb
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And Carys is certainly embracing shopping her mom's previous red carpet picks — even to the point of possibly overdoing it.—
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Unlike horror movies built on shadowy boogeymen bouncing out of the dark, The Witch's tone stays quiet, swarming around themes of bewitchery, black magic, and wickedness without overdoing it.—
Verb
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The landscape is always changing, never boring.—
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Just like her character on The Nanny, Fran Drescher's style is whimsical, wild and, most importantly, never boring.—
Cite this Entry
“Overuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overuse. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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