overestimate

Verb

overestimate (third-person singular simple present overestimates, present participle overestimating, simple past and past participle overestimated)

1. To judge or calculate too highly.
   • I overestimated the number of attendees, and bought far too much food for the party.
   • Nevertheless, the role played by vertical transport (in particular, by biosedimentation) in self-purification of seas and oceans from chlorinated hydrocarbons must not be overestimated.2016, S.A. Patin, Pollution and the Biological Resources of the Oceans, →ISBN, page 48

   Synonyms:

   overapproximate, overstate, overhold, overrate, overreckon, overthink

   Antonyms:

   underestimate, misunderestimate, sell short, underapproximate, underguess, underjudge, underrate, underreckon, understate

Noun

IPA/ˌəʊvəɹˈɛstɪmət/

overestimate (plural overestimates)

1. An estimate that is too high.
   • The employment projection for the metropolitan area for 1985 was an overestimate by about 12 percent.2013, Peter Karl Kresl, Jaime Sobrino, Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Urban Economies
   • The department pointed to a study it conducted in 2017 that found that, in some states, overestimates of utility costs were giving some people too many food stamps, while in others, people were getting too few.2019 April 10, Lola Fadulu, “Trump Administration Unveils More Cuts to Food Stamp Program”, in The New York Times