oversimple

Definition of oversimplenext

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 oversimple This oversimple model grants primacy based on authorship and chronology. — Kevin Dettmar, The Atlantic, 1 July 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oversimple
Adjective
  • The policy changes have environmental advocates concerned the review may be hasty and not follow the full intent of the National Environmental Policy Act.
    — Brandon Lingle, San Antonio Express-News, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The woman understood from her hasty reading that perhaps all miracles could be attributed to saints and angels if they were experienced by a believer.
    — Ellen O’Connell Whittet, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • The hotel is the most ambitious project on the riverfront, which had been a sketchy area on the fringe of downtown Savannah but is now coming back to life with bars, restaurants, and gift shops.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Mike, whose father (Joe Morton’s Bayard) is a notorious celebrity lawyer, quickly joins forces with Olivia Siffre (Rachel Keller), a young legal associate fired from the same start-up for different sketchy reasons.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 6 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Both sides still have to hash out key details — including what constitutes sufficient medical attention — to avoid scenarios where care and examinations are conducted in a cursory manner to meet numerical goals.
    — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Heath pilots a fighter jet, deploys bombs in foreign countries, and thwarts cyberattacks, all after remarkably cursory and casual conversations with a government official.
    — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • It is estimated that a quarter of people diagnosed with superficial clots can also have deep vein thrombosis, so health providers order follow-up imaging.
    — Ali Ataya, The Conversation, 26 Oct. 2026
  • Why was Hurts, already diagnosed with superficial blood clots, then get put on the team flight back from London with the rest of the team?
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • The Horned Frogs leaned more on their passing game as the run game took a step back significantly in 2023.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Containing the ground game could put Seattle in predictable passing situations, giving the Chiefs a chance to pressure Darnold and force mistakes.
    — Neil Nakahodo, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026
Adjective
  • Because the story lines are facile fakes, because the characters are blanked out, the substance of relationships is reduced to dialogue of generalities and platitudes.
    — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Despite the film’s slow-cinema touches, its storytelling structure and emotionality — even though muted and quiet — recall instead the melodrama at its most facile.
    — Elena Lazic, Variety, 25 July 2026
Adjective
  • After that, Grace all but disappears from Crystal Lake, exposing the haphazard plotting of a show that refuses to commit.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026
  • Violent crime, once almost unknown on the island, is rising sharply—another sign of the state’s haphazard retreat.
    — Will Freeman, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • The audit, released Monday, identified a host of issues, including regulators’ failure to meet regular inspection schedules or to conduct sufficient random checks at dispensaries for contaminated products.
    — Christopher Osher, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
  • There is nothing truly random about whether a coin comes up heads or tails.
    — Philipp Strasberg, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Oversimple.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oversimple. Accessed 29 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