Word.ws English Dictionary

overprescribe

overprescribe verb: to prescribe (a drug) more frequently than appropriate.

Verb

overprescribe (third-person singular simple present overprescribes, present participle overprescribing, simple past and past participle overprescribed)

  1. (transitive) To prescribe (a drug) more frequently than appropriate.
    • The drug maker Purdue Pharma has agreed […] to settle complaints that it encouraged physicians to overprescribe its painkiller OxyContin.2007 May 9, The Associated Press, “Painkiller’s Maker Settles Complaint”, in New York Times
    Antonyms:
    underprescribe

Antonyms of overprescribe

Forms of overprescribe

third-person singular presentoverprescribes
present participleoverprescribing
past participleoverprescribed
pastoverprescribed

Origin of overprescribe

From over- + prescribe.

Questions about overprescribe

What does overprescribe mean?
Overprescribe means to prescribe (a drug) more frequently than appropriate.
What part of speech is overprescribe?
Overprescribe is a verb.
What is the past tense of overprescribe?
The past tense of overprescribe is overprescribed.

Words near overprescribe in the dictionary

  1. overpreparation
  2. overprepare
  3. overprepared
  4. overprepares
  5. overpreparing
  6. overprescribe
  7. overprescribed
  8. overprescribes
  9. overprescribing
  10. overprescription
  11. overprescriptions

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: overprescribe (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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