How to Use overestimate in a Sentence

overestimate

1 of 2 verb
Definition of overestimatenext
Synonyms for overestimatenext
  • Students have been know to wildly overestimate the ages of their teachers.
    — Christine Loman, Washington Post, 24 May 2023
  • There’s no way to overestimate the effect Betty’s transparency had on a nation in the throes of Nixon’s downfall.
    — Mark Peikert, Town & Country, 21 Apr. 2022
  • But in at least some cases, a blindingly bright black hole could be leading researchers to overestimate the heft of the surrounding stars.
    — WIRED, 5 Nov. 2023
  • So forget the bots and Russian trolls, or at least don’t overestimate their influence.
    — Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2020
  • Tip: Don’t overestimate your ability to afford things based on your gross pay.
    — Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2023
  • None of this is helped by the fact that many swimmers greatly overestimate their swimming abilities.
    — Kaleb A. Brown, Detroit Free Press, 8 July 2020
  • Their solution was to blindly overestimate the taxes the state would collect.
    — George Skelton, Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 2023
  • As with any online frenzy, though, blending in with the crowd is part of the appeal and Lyons believes some people may have overestimated in their responses.
    — Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 23 Sep. 2023
  • This appears to be what happened in 2021, when the Department of Water Resources greatly overestimated how much of that winter’s snow would wind up in rivers.
    — Raymond Zhong Erin Schaff, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2023
  • Employees often overestimate what can be done in a week, but underestimate what can be done in a year.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2021
  • Some economists say towns tend to overestimate the economic benefits of theme parks like Legoland.
    — New York Times, 1 Oct. 2021
  • Be wary of overestimating your abilities with Mercury and Neptune egging you on.
    — Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2023
  • But over the past 25 years, analysts on average have overestimated the final EPS number by 6.9% one year in advance.
    — Hannah Miao, WSJ, 2 Dec. 2023
  • But when a poll does include them, the results tend to drastically overestimate their support, data shows.
    — Rebecca Davis O’Brien, New York Times, 20 Mar. 2024
  • Republicans and Democrats both overestimate the extent to which the other side dehumanizes them by up to 300%, according to the findings.
    — Time, 26 Oct. 2022
  • Prigozhin may be overestimating his chances, according to the think tank, which counts two generals, including Gen. David H. Petraeus, on its board.
    — NBC News, 24 June 2023
  • What may be especially troubling for the White House is that recent history suggests that, like many polls, Monmouth tends to overestimate Biden strength.
    — James Freeman, WSJ, 26 Jan. 2022
  • So in schools that have installed these filters, carbon dioxide readings alone may overestimate the risk of viral transmission.
    — The New York Times, Arkansas Online, 11 Oct. 2021
  • The groups also have argued that the government is overestimating the importance of the new rule in controlling migration.
    — Rebecca Santana, Anchorage Daily News, 4 Aug. 2023
  • The monarch also seemed to grossly overestimate Diana's ability to adjust to royal life.
    — Emma Dibdin, ELLE, 11 Nov. 2022
  • In broad terms, the poll shows that Americans consistently, and vastly, overestimate the size of minority groups.
    — Damon Linker, The Week, 18 Mar. 2022
  • Prospects for such an outcome can hardly be overestimated.
    — Time, 28 July 2023
  • The test positivity rate, meanwhile, tends to overestimate the true prevalence.
    — Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2021
  • Those who suffer from the Spotlight Effect typically overestimate how much people think of them.
    — Dominique Fluker, Essence, 23 Aug. 2023
  • Namely, there’s a risk of overestimating how much carbon dioxide has been sequestered when not fully accounting for how fertilizers in the soil affect the process.
    — Justine Calma, The Verge, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Their contribution to the pulse of this reverberant tale cannot be overestimated.
    — David L. Coddoncontributor, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Feb. 2023
  • Having warned us early on against the danger of overestimating etymology, Nuttall cheerfully does precisely that for much of the rest of the book.
    — S.c. Cornell, The New Yorker, 25 Aug. 2023
  • Yes, the polls in GOP primary contests have slightly overestimated Trump’s support.
    — Matthew Continetti, National Review, 2 Mar. 2024
  • These findings fall in line with research that shows people consistently overestimate the size of minority groups.
    — Politifact Staff Writer, Dallas News, 17 July 2023
  • These programs often take place in poor countries that sometimes overestimate their impact and lack accountability mechanisms.
    — Rachel Glennerster, Foreign Affairs, 14 Feb. 2024
Advertisement

overestimate

2 of 2 noun
  • In fact, the reviewers said if anything the $55 million was an overestimate.
    — jsonline.com, 2 Sep. 2021
  • However, the team cautions that 38 is likely an overestimate, so the number may be even lower.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 13 Feb. 2023
  • But Klausner and others suspect the rate of prior infection presented in the study was a gross overestimate.
    — Arthur Allen, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Oct. 2021
  • That might lead to an overestimate of its prevalence—and an indicator of civilization where there may be none.
    — Meghan Herbst, Wired, 4 Mar. 2021
  • The wastewater oil is likely an overestimate, Tikka said.
    — Janet McConnaughey, Chron, 29 Sep. 2022
  • But Klausner and others suspect that the rate of previous infections presented in the study was a gross overestimate.
    — NBC News, 6 Oct. 2021
  • There was only one hitch: The unit itself was only about a third of that size, making what was already a gross overestimate by market standards into an inconceivable one.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2022
  • This number may be an overestimate as some of the reports received by the Weather Service may be duplicates (multiple reports from the same tornado).
    — Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2021
  • For this reason, even progressive economists think Warren’s projection that $187 billion would be raised by her wealth tax is a vast overestimate.
    — Brad Polumbo, National Review, 28 Aug. 2020
  • But with many schools closed or in limited operation this academic year, there were fewer people losing their jobs, meaning the seasonal adjustment most likely caused an overestimate in the gain in jobs.
    — New York Times, 6 Aug. 2021
  • Even that's an overestimate, though, because this sample was enriched for early-onset cases: some of the participating clinics were child and adolescent only.
    — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2012
  • Rather, there was a consistent overestimate of minorities, and underestimate of whites.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2012
  • Fewer than ten thousand individuals remain worldwide of the Siler pincushion cactus, according to a 2006 survey that Wellard fears is now an overestimate.
    — The Salt Lake Tribune, 31 Oct. 2020
  • Even that figure may well be an overestimate, given the country’s small number of haredi Orthodox Jews, the population that most often speaks Yiddish in their regular lives, and high rates of assimilation.
    — Katarzyna Andersz, sun-sentinel.com, 17 Nov. 2021
  • This hyper-visibility can also catalyze backlashes to equality when people who are fooled by the diversity shell game overestimate progress on diversity and resist change.
    — J. Nathan Matias, WIRED, 26 Mar. 2023
  • Across the demographics there is an average underestimate in absolute values of non-Hispanic whites by 10 percentage points, and an overestimate of minorities (excluding Jews here) of about 15 percentage points.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2012
  • According to its calculations, more than 23 million Americans are receiving some form of unemployment relief, but that is probably an overestimate.
    — Ben Casselman, New York Times, 22 Oct. 2020
  • District officials say these intentional overestimates are necessary because Boston’s enrollment is particularly fluid and the system has many small programs.
    — Christopher Huffaker, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Feb. 2023
  • In fact, the reviewers said if anything the $55 million was an overestimate.
    — jsonline.com, 2 Sep. 2021
  • However, the team cautions that 38 is likely an overestimate, so the number may be even lower.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 13 Feb. 2023
  • But Klausner and others suspect the rate of prior infection presented in the study was a gross overestimate.
    — Arthur Allen, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Oct. 2021
  • That might lead to an overestimate of its prevalence—and an indicator of civilization where there may be none.
    — Meghan Herbst, Wired, 4 Mar. 2021
  • The wastewater oil is likely an overestimate, Tikka said.
    — Janet McConnaughey, Chron, 29 Sep. 2022
  • But Klausner and others suspect that the rate of previous infections presented in the study was a gross overestimate.
    — NBC News, 6 Oct. 2021
  • There was only one hitch: The unit itself was only about a third of that size, making what was already a gross overestimate by market standards into an inconceivable one.
    — Matt Ford, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2022
  • This number may be an overestimate as some of the reports received by the Weather Service may be duplicates (multiple reports from the same tornado).
    — Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2021
  • For this reason, even progressive economists think Warren’s projection that $187 billion would be raised by her wealth tax is a vast overestimate.
    — Brad Polumbo, National Review, 28 Aug. 2020
  • But with many schools closed or in limited operation this academic year, there were fewer people losing their jobs, meaning the seasonal adjustment most likely caused an overestimate in the gain in jobs.
    — New York Times, 6 Aug. 2021
  • Even that's an overestimate, though, because this sample was enriched for early-onset cases: some of the participating clinics were child and adolescent only.
    — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 7 May 2012
  • Rather, there was a consistent overestimate of minorities, and underestimate of whites.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 7 Jan. 2012

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overestimate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: