How to Use overplay in a Sentence

overplay

verb
  • He overplayed the death scene.
  • The network news overplayed the story just to get good ratings.
  • Metaphors abound, but Biancheri doesn’t overplay her hand on that front.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 1 Dec. 2021
  • Metaphors abound, but Biancheri doesn’t overplay her hand on that front.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, Detroit Free Press, 3 Dec. 2021
  • Do Democrats run the risk of overplaying their hand?
    — NBC news, 9 Nov. 2025
  • But not all is lost, because Rapchinksi has overplayed his hand.
    — Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 15 May 2023
  • Lue has tried to stagger their minutes to not overplay them.
    — Janis Carr, Oc Register, 22 Mar. 2026
  • But there’s lots of businesses for which that kind of risk is overplayed.
    — Sarah Todd, Quartz at Work, 12 July 2019
  • So, what is left to protect the nation from any force that would overplay its hand.
    — Gary Franks, Hartford Courant, 21 Mar. 2025
  • Marlon takes on the guise of a thug named Roach and of course overplays the role.
    — Caryn James, HollywoodReporter, 11 June 2025
  • In business as well as in fashion, Kendall has overplayed his hand.
    — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2019
  • Something tells me that this is a classic case of overplaying one’s hand.
    — Stephen A. Crockett Jr., The Root, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Try to keep him on the back line of defense and overplay the 3-point line to funnel to him.
    — Zach Harper, New York Times, 12 June 2026
  • And powerful people tend to overplay their hands.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 30 Dec. 2025
  • On the other hand, Democrats are in danger of overplaying their hand.
    — William A. Galston, WSJ, 10 July 2018
  • Also, there is a chance that Democrats may overplay their hand on Kavanaugh.
    — Chad Pergram, Fox News, 25 Sep. 2018
  • Romero has overplayed his hand, but Usher isn't going to do anything about it yet.
    — Ethan Renner, baltimoresun.com, 2 June 2017
  • The biggest issue, though, is that too much of the performance is overplayed.
    — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 24 July 2019
  • Trump’s lawyers may have overplayed their hand by rushing an appeal to the high court on Sunday.
    — David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2025
  • Matthew Lillard overplays his smaller role and in the process spoils what was meant to be a major twist.
    — Murtada Elfadl, Variety, 26 Oct. 2023
  • Most of those 2s are on rim attacks as defenses overplay to limit the long ball.
    — J. Michael, The Indianapolis Star, 25 Mar. 2021
  • Wright overplays the run, safety Hill drifted too far right and can’t catch up and just like that, the game is tied.
    — oregonlive, 22 Dec. 2019
  • Campaigners, meanwhile, don’t want to overplay their hands.
    — Clayton Davis, Variety, 13 June 2026
  • In this snappy jousting of words and egos, everyone in the cast has a license to overplay.
    — David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Apr. 2023
  • In a couple of instances, the director overplays her hand.
    — Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 14 May 2026
  • Smartly, Demna hasn’t overplayed his hand.
    — Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Smartly, Demna hasn’t overplayed his hand.
    — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Hoult is the center of the film and never overplays the torment roiling inside.
    — Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 29 Oct. 2024
  • In this show, some of them work well — there is a lot of talent in the very ample ensemble — but a few feel overplayed.
    — Chris Jones, chicagotribune.com, 31 Jan. 2018
  • The motif of windows as a snapshot of other lives is never overplayed.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'overplay.' 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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