How to Use overbook in a Sentence

overbook

verb
  • The airline overbooked the flight.
  • The flight was overbooked, and I got bumped off.
  • The doctor's office called and said that they overbooked the appointments for today.
  • But the flight was overbooked, and Schear was asked to give up the seat.
    — Kaitlyn Schallhorn, Fox News, 19 July 2017
  • Munoz said if airlines can’t overbook there will be more empty seats and fares will rise.
    — David Koenig, The Seattle Times, 27 Apr. 2017
  • Munoz said if airlines can't overbook flights there will be more empty seats and fares will rise.
    — David Koenig, OrlandoSentinel.com, 27 Apr. 2017
  • When a flight is overbooked, people are moved for any number of reasons.
    — Holly Johnson, idahostatesman, 30 July 2017
  • Kirby said change fees, baggage charges and overbooking help keep fares low.
    — Lori Aratani, Washington Post, 4 May 2017
  • Here's where Delta differed from United when a flight was overbooked.
    — Megan Friedman, Country Living, 11 Apr. 2017
  • Assume that all flights during peak travel seasons will be overbooked.
    — Melinda Crow, Twin Cities, 20 Apr. 2017
  • On schedules, officers would be urged not to overbook themselves.
    — Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2017
  • Include some downtime in the schedule and don’t overbook yourself.
    — Washington Post, 19 July 2021
  • Often, this is a result of flights’ being overbooked, as airlines try to fill as many seats as possible.
    — Kelly Couturier, New York Times, 17 Apr. 2017
  • Of course, in this fast and furious world, there are businesses that routinely overbook and short staff.
    — cleveland, 26 July 2021
  • And then, the family was told all Delta flights were overbooked until that Tuesday.
    — Megan Friedman, Country Living, 11 Apr. 2017
  • If airlines couldn’t overbook, then ticket prices would increase for all customers as the airlines hedge against empty seats.
    — Baruch Feigenbaum, Orange County Register, 14 May 2017
  • Keep their calendar light Don't overbook their schedule either.
    — Laura Wheatman Hill, Parents, 11 Apr. 2026
  • Hotels can be overbooked, flights get canceled, and severe weather may cause disruptions.
    — Joni Sweet, Cincinnati.com, 10 July 2019
  • Still, even after this latest debacle, don’t expect overbooking to go away.
    — Barbara Peterson, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Apr. 2017
  • Airlines sometimes overbook flights with the expectation that some passengers won’t show up.
    — David Koenig, Anchorage Daily News, 2 July 2022
  • Don’t fall into the FOMO trap and overbook yourself.
    — Amanda Rosa, Miami Herald, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Because customers can now cancel without penalty, those assumptions are no longer valid, and airlines have already started to overbook more flights.
    — Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 25 Dec. 2020
  • But on the way back to Colorado on Wednesday, Cordova claims that Spirit overbooked the flight.
    — Fox News, 26 June 2017
  • The therapists at his underfunded school were overbooked and couldn’t guarantee his therapy.
    — Emily Schultz, Slate Magazine, 6 June 2017
  • Meanwhile, Southwest has stopped overbooking their flights, learning from United’s mistakes.
    — Rob Weinberg, Ramona Sentinel, 11 May 2017
  • People wheel around elderly relatives in need of dialysis, hoping to get a spot on flights that have been overbooked, even though many airlines have resumed full menus of flights to the mainland.
    — Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 12 Oct. 2017
  • There are former museum curators who have learned not to overbook themselves; solo travelers who always learn a little of the local language.
    — Stacey Lastoe, Condé Nast Traveler, 30 Mar. 2024
  • United Airlines said he was removed because the flight was overbooked and four United employees needed to fly to Louisville.
    — The Washington Post, NOLA.com, 18 Oct. 2017
  • As those algorithms predict that a flight will be overbooked, prices shoot even higher to preemptively compensate for the cost of bumping other passengers.
    — Luke Darby, GQ, 7 Sep. 2017
  • The cabbie informs you that your destination — a hotel, temple, museum, teahouse — is overbooked or closed and takes you to his friend’s lodging or attraction.
    — Andrea Sachs, Twin Cities, 10 Aug. 2019

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

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