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

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of overuse For example, one engineering company used AI agents to analyze workload distribution and identify areas where resources were being overused. Alex Circei, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025 Anyone who overuses or overextends one of these muscles can end up with pain in the back of their knee. Sarah Bradley, Health, 11 May 2025 Similar to coffee grounds, tea can be overused as a fertilizer. Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 Apr. 2025 But the real question isn’t whether BNPL is being overused. Nandan Sheth, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for overuse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overuse
Verb
  • Lent during the Statesman’s preview cautioned against stereotyping people entering the country and said immigration remains an integral part of the U.S. economy.
    Ian Max Stevenson, Idaho Statesman, 3 Jan. 2025
  • Troy schools board president Karl Schmidt loses reelection after his letters stereotyping Asians were uncovered.
    Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, 8 Nov. 2024
Verb
  • Applying a minor exposure adjustment will naturally boost the contrast between darker and lighter tones of your image, and a good result will be one where the solar disk does not appear under- or overexposed.
    Josh Dury, Space.com, 30 Apr. 2025
  • The couple’s recent red-carpet appearance with their kids at Pompeo’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony was a rare one, and I, for one, kind of love that their family life is the antithesis of overexposed.
    Emma Specter, Vogue, 1 May 2025
Verb
  • Known for his roles in five feature-length martial arts films, Lee is credited with helping to popularize martial arts films in the 1970s and promoting Hong Kong action cinema.
    New Atlas, New Atlas, 7 June 2025
  • One hundred years later, ocean liners—a mode of transport that Tricia Cusack argues helped to popularize the reach of the British Empire for upper-class travelers—would be superseded by the convenience of commercial air travel.
    H.M.A. Leow, JSTOR Daily, 6 June 2025
Verb
  • His versions were full-blooded, with lush strings and reasonably large orchestras — and, purists alleged — vulgarizing distortions.
    BostonGlobe.com, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2019
  • Ever since his rise to power, Trump has served as a vulgarizing agent.
    Leon Neyfakh, Slate Magazine, 2 June 2017
Verb
  • The visa expired in February 2023, but Soliman has not exhausted legal efforts to remain in the U.S., according to NBC.
    Dan Mangan, CNBC, 3 June 2025
  • The object could be a white dwarf—an Earth-sized husk that remains after a star has exhausted its nuclear fuel.
    Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 30 May 2025
Verb
  • Strive to indulge once in a while without overdoing it.
    Leigh Morgan, Quartz, 2 June 2025
  • McDonough added extra springs and air bags to handle the camper weight and a winch up front, but otherwise has stayed away from overdoing the build.
    Jakob Schiller, Outside Online, 29 May 2025
Verb
  • Ava is bored out of her mind and desperate to get to work.
    Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 30 May 2025
  • With a drill bit almost as tall as himself, one of the volunteers bored a hole and dropped in a measuring tape with fold-out brass arms at its end.
    Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Overuse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overuse. Accessed 16 Jun. 2025.

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