Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🗣️ To interrupt 💬 To talk too much
to overspeak

to overspeak

7.2
To speak at the same time as someone, cutting them off and making them hard to hear
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈspiːk/
translation icon : interrumpir
  • This time you've only just opened your mouth to speak, haven't even gotten to the "Gary" part yet, when he overspeaks you.

Examples

  • Whenever they discuss politics, he tends to overspeak and interrupt everyone around him.

  • During the debate, she often overspoke her opponent's points instead of letting him finish.

  • It's common for family members to overspeak each other during holiday gatherings.

Synonyms

to cut in
vsto overspeak
6 3.5

Interrupt someone who is speaking or doing something

interrupts by speaking at the same time to drown them out
to shout over
vsto overspeak
4 4.0

Speak loudly so others can hear you above noise

uses volume to drown someone rather than simply interrupt
to talk out of turn
vsto overspeak
2 6.5

Speak when it is not your turn, often in a class or meeting

interrupts others by speaking at the same time, not merely wrong timing
to overtalk
vsto overspeak
6.7

To speak at the same time as someone else and make that person hard to hear

focuses more on interrupting or drowning the other voice

Antonyms

to be quiet
231 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

How Interruptive

to drown out
37 3.5
to overspeak
7.2
to speak
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

overspeak infinitive
overspeaking present participle
overspeaks third person singular
overspoke past
overspoken past participle

Morphology

overspeak = speak (semi-transparent) = over + speak

The form 'over' + 'speak' is clear, but the specific sense 'speak at the same time as someone else / interrupt' derives from the phrasal concept 'speak over' and may not be immediately inferred by all learners.

Etymology

Overspeak comes from the prefix over- meaning 'on top of' and the verb speak, so picture one voice speaking 'on top of' another and covering it. That's why overspeak can mean to speak at the same time as someone else and drown them out.