overhears

present tense third-person singular of overhear
as in hears
to listen to (another in private conversation) it's not polite to try to overhear intimate friends sharing confidences

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of overhears The pair gets into their first major relationship discussion when Sarah overhears John getting frustrated with a customer-service person from his electric company. — Emma Sharpe, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2026 One morning at school, Frida spies bruises on Elia’s back and overhears her and Emmanuel talking about having been disciplined by their parents. — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026 The founder who overhears the right conversation wasn’t looking for it. — Jennifer Hoffmann, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026 At one point, Piker overhears his brother telling me about his old job as an aerospace engineer at Boeing. — Josh Eells, Rolling Stone, 9 Aug. 2026 Season 3 picks up after her boyfriend Alex Walter (Ashby Gentry) overhears Jackie and his brother Cole Walter (Noah LaLonde) confess their feelings for each other. — Kelly Allen, PEOPLE, 6 Aug. 2026 Mami overhears our conversation and gives us a crisp hundred-peso note, plasticky and purple. — Joseph Trinidad, Longreads, 16 June 2026 When Dickens overhears his son Baby chatting with Andersen during storytime, and the child’s painful stutter is gone, Dickens is grateful, at least temporarily, for Andersen’s presence. — Stuart Miller, Oc Register, 10 June 2026 Rebekah overhears this plan and urges Jacob to disguise himself as Esau. — Charles Preston, Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overhears
Verb
  • Deadline hears that the BBC has held tentative discussions about whether Sounds could be folded in with iPlayer to create a single streaming service for video and audio, not unlike Netflix and YouTube.
    — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Her 7-year-old hears the conversations around her, sees the protests in her community and notices the visiting canal personnel.
    — Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 18 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • One morning at school, Frida spies bruises on Elia’s back and overhears her and Emmanuel talking about having been disciplined by their parents.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Late one night, Clark spies what appears to be a sliver of light coming through a crack in the wall of the store’s basement.
    — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 June 2026
Verb
  • Leaders, therefore, need clarity about who owns the technology and data, who controls access, who monitors risk and who has authority to make consequential decisions.
    — Chandini Sheeba, Forbes.com, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Amazon said its threat intelligence team had detected attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities before they were publicly disclosed, using its MadPot threat detection system, which monitors suspicious activity across internet-facing infrastructure.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Overhears.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overhears. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster