overdress

[ verb oh-ver-dres; noun oh-ver-dres ]

verb (used with or without object)

, o·ver·dressed, o·ver·dress·ing.

1. to dress with too much display, finery, or formality:

   He certainly overdressed for the occasion.

2. to put excessive clothing on:

   She tends to overdress her children.

noun

1. a dress worn over another, which it covers either partially or completely.

overdress

verb

1. to dress (oneself or another) too elaborately or finely

noun

1. a dress that may be worn over a jumper, blouse, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of overdress¹

First recorded in 1700–10; over- + dress

Example Sentences

SWEENEY: And it’s just like if she was in the bathhouse, she would just be wearing her overdress, her bathing dress, and no bra.

From Los Angeles Times

And the older guests, slightly overdressed for the occasion, can be seen smuggling their ties back into their pockets.

From BBC

She made everyone else look overdone and overdressed, washing the Augean stables of Cannes clean.

From New York Times

Or 1989, widely and unfairly remembered as the Worst Oscars Ever, which Schulman, a staff writer for The New Yorker, dissects like a forensic pathologist hovering over an overdressed corpse.

From New York Times

In her enormous cheetah-print coat, black turtleneck and strappy black sandals she was, she acknowledged, a little overdressed for the setting, but she had come straight from a photo shoot.

From New York Times