override

American  

[oh-ver-rahyd, oh-ver-rahyd] / ˌoʊ vərˈraɪd, ˈoʊ vərˌraɪd /

verb (used with object)

• overrides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• overrode,
  past
• overridden,
  past participle
• overriding
  present participle

1. to prevail or have dominance over; have final authority or say over; overrule.

   to override one's advisers.

2. to disregard, set aside, or nullify; countermand.

   to override the board's veto.

3. to take precedence over; preempt or supersede.

   to override any other considerations.

4. to extend beyond or spread over; overlap.

5. to modify or suspend the ordinary functioning of; alter the normal operation of.

6. to ride over or across.

7. to ride past or beyond.

8. to trample or crush; ride down.

9. to ride (a horse) too much.

10. Fox Hunting. to ride too closely behind (the hounds).

---

noun

• overrides
  plural

1. a commission on sales or profits, especially one paid at the executive or managerial level.

2. budgetary or expense increase; exceeding of an estimate.

   work stoppage because of cost overrides.

3. an ability or allowance to correct, change, supplement, or suspend the operation of an otherwise automatic mechanism, system, etc.

4. an auxiliary device for such modification, as a special manual control.

5. an act of nullifying, canceling, or setting aside.

   a congressional override of the president's veto.

6. Radio and Television Slang. something that is a dominant or major facet of a program or series, especially something that serves as a unifying theme.

   an entertainment series with a historical override.

override British  

/ ˌəʊvəˈraɪd /

verb

1. to set aside or disregard with superior authority or power

2. to supersede or annul

3. to dominate or vanquish by or as if by trampling down

4. to take manual control of (a system that is usually under automatic control)

5. to extend or pass over, esp to overlap

6. to ride (a horse) too hard

7. to ride over or across

---

noun

1. a device or system that can override an automatic control

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• overrides
  plural

Participles

• overriding
  present
• overridden
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• override
  simple
• overrides
  simple
• have overridden
  perfect
• has overridden
  perfect
• am overriding
  progressive
• are overriding
  progressive
• is overriding
  progressive
• have been overriding
  perfect progressive
• has been overriding
  perfect progressive

Past

• overrode
  simple
• had overridden
  perfect
• was overriding
  progressive
• were overriding
  progressive
• had been overriding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will override
  simple
• will have overridden
  perfect
• will be overriding
  progressive
• will have been overriding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of override

before 900; Middle English overriden to ride over or across, Old English oferrīdan. See over-, ride

Explanation

You can override or reject a decision if you're more powerful than the person who originally made the decision. And Congress has the power to override or nullify the Presidential veto if they have a two-thirds vote. The word override can be used in a number of contexts. You can override or ride on top of the grass. You can override a horse, or ride it too hard. An army can override or dominate the enemy in a war. And a judge can override or set aside a decision in court. Regardless of which meaning you're using, remember that the thing doing the overriding always has the upper hand.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

override overrides overrode overridden overriding

For years, technology stocks have been riding a wave of AI-inspired momentum powerful enough to override macroeconomic concerns, entirely due to those companies’ strong earnings growth and favorable profit outlooks.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 27, 2026

If you have legal custody, parent information will be required, though you can contact the colleges to ask for a dependency override.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026

"The fundamental right to walk on demarcated footpaths shall override the privilege of a motorised vehicle," he declared.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

CMS suggests that states should monitor ownership changes and that companies should “avoid structures where financial pressures override clinical judgment.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

“Dojjiou know how to override the system manually?”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

"Amazon overrides and replaces the actual auction results with higher prices set by Amazon to increase its profits," says a complaint filed in the company's home state of Washington.

From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026

But an institution that overrides a noisy signal has taken on an obligation to produce better ones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

But according to the research of professor Richard Hasen, the rate of congressional overrides has steadily decreased over the years as Congress becomes slower and less productive with each passing term.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

He pointed to a recent landmark bill, State Senate Bill 79, which overrides local zoning laws to allow for taller, denser buildings near major transit stops.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

He finishes out his tune with a low, guttural hum just as the deep, pounding bass of a revved car engine overrides his voice.

From "American Street" by Ibi Zoboi

That emotion overrode thinking about the message she was sending in its entirety to the recipient of that money.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

On the same night it approved the contracts, the board overrode its own chief financial officer to pull $175 million from a fund set aside for retiree health benefits.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

One study found that Congress used to overturn several opinions practically every term, including a particularly effective 1991 Congress that overrode eight Supreme Court decisions.

From Slate ● Jul. 6, 2026

Last year, researchers at the UK's AI Security Institute found jailbreaks that overrode safeguards across a range of harmful requests in every AI system it tested.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

My CIA training overrode my wishful thinking," Howard said, "and I also recalled one of James Bond's maxims: 'Once is coincidence.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau

Cutler said this has a lower likelihood of being overridden by courts, noting Trump's top trade official Jamieson Greer had carefully navigated procedural requirements before imposing duties.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Board chairs historically have rarely overridden the executives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s vice president of AI software, said on X that the driver had manually overridden the system by “by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.”

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026

Career officials objected to letting Musk have private income data of millions, but they were overridden.

From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2025

And she pushes past him, his authority overridden.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

But there must be valid federal law that actually does the overriding.

From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2026

The overriding point isn’t that a 30-year-old should move to any particular city.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

The law aims to prevent civil litigation overriding its climate policy and undermining business confidence, the government said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Beginning with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, America embraced equality among races and between the sexes as overriding policy goals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

There was no question of overriding her commands.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Related Words

• abrogate
• annul
• nullify
• quash
• reverse
• revoke
• veto