overt
/ə(ʊ)ˈvɜːt/US/oʊˈvɚt/
overt adjective: open and not concealed or secret.
Adjective
overt (not comparable)
- Open and not concealed or secret.
- The buſineſs of Overt-Acts is, where the Compaſſing and Imagining the King's Death is the Crime and Queſtion, and this muſt be diſcover'd by Overt-Acts. But if the Treaſon be falſifying of the King's Money, this is Treaſon, but there can be no Overt-Act of that, for that is an Overt-Act in it ſelf...1696 October 31, The Tryal, and Condemnation of Capt. Thomas Vaughan. For High Treason, in Adhering to the French-King, and for Endeavouring the Destruction of His Majesty’s Ships in the Nore. […]...
- [T]he essence of a sale in a market overt is, that the goods should be openly exposed in the ordinary way, and also that the whole transaction should take place there, and at one time. If a man make a contract for certain goods which are not in market overt, and subsequently the goods are...1864 April 28, Justice Blackburn [i.e., Colin Blackburn, Baron Blackburn], “Crane v. The London Dock Company”, in The Jurist. […], volume X, part I, number 511 (New Series), London: H. Sweet, […]...
- Synonyms:
- manifest, open, patent, plain, unconcealed
- Antonyms:
- covert, hidden, nonovert, abstruse, behind the scenes, catlike, backroom, backstairs, stealth, clandestine
- Disclosed.
- Arg. an eagle rising wings overt inverted sa. armed or. HILTOFTE, V.1874, John Woody Papworth, An Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, page 298
Noun
overt (plural overts)
- An action or condition said to be detrimental to one’s own survival and thus unethical; the consciousness of such behaviour.
- Scientologists are sure that the person must have “overts” against Scientology, therefore nothing a former member says can be trusted.1990, Jon Atack, A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, →ISBN, page 148
- Masturbation is an overt—strictly forbidden in Scientology, as Hubbard believed that it can slow one’s process to enlightenment.2006 February 23, Janet Reitman, “Inside Scientology”, in Rolling Stone
overt meaning in Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
overt in Urdu
- عام, ظاہر
overt in Bengali
- প্রকাশ্য, প্রত্যক্ষ
overt in Malayalam
- ഒളിച്ചുവയ്ക്കാത്ത, സ്പഷ്ടമായ, പ്രത്യക്ഷമായ
overt in Kannada
- ಗುಟ್ಟಲ್ಲದ, ತೆರೆದ, ಅಡಗಿಸದ, ಮುಚ್ಚುಮರೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ, ಬಹಿರಂಗ, ಪ್ರಕಟ
Examples of overt in a sentence
- The buſineſs of Overt-Acts is, where the Compaſſing and Imagining the King's Death is the Crime and Queſtion, and this muſt be diſcover'd by Overt-Acts.1696 October 31, The Tryal, and Condemnation of Capt. Thomas Vaughan. For High Treason, in Adhering to the French-King, and for...
- [T]he essence of a sale in a market overt is, that the goods should be openly exposed in the ordinary way, and also that the whole transaction should take place there, and at one time.1864 April 28, Justice Blackburn [i.e., Colin Blackburn, Baron Blackburn], “Crane v. The London Dock Company”, in The Jurist. […], volume...
- Consequently action must be taken in the overt curriculum to overcome the learnings acquired through the hidden curriculum.1993, Murray Print, “Introducing Curriculum”, in Curriculum Development and Design, 2nd edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, →ISBN...
- Anyone who leaves has committed “overts” (harmful acts) against the church and is withholding them.2019 October 17, Thomas C. Tobin, Joe Childs, “Part 1 — Scientology: The Truth Rundown”, in Tampa Bay Times:
Synonyms of overt
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of overt
| plural | overts |
|---|
Origin of overt
From Middle English overt, uverte (“open, uncovered; unfastened; accessible, unobstructed; clear, manifest”), from Anglo-Norman overt, Middle French ouvert, Old French overt, ouvert, uvert (“opened”) (modern French ouvert), past participle of Anglo-Norman, Old French ovrir, ouvrir, uvrir (“to open”), from Late Latin operire, variant of Latin aperīre (“to open”), from aperiō (“to open, uncover”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“away; from”) + *h₂wer- (“to cover, shut”). The English word is a doublet of apert and ouvert.
Words formed from overt
- O/W
- market overt
- nonovert
- overtly
- overtness
- overt prestige
- pound overt
- semiovert
- unovert
Words that rhyme with overt
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- pervert
- advert
- alert
- divert
- inert
- avert
- concert
- deconvert
- girt
- lirt
- shirt
- spurt
- subvert
- vert
- wort
- blurt
- chert
- curt
- desert
- dessert
- exert
- introvert
- Leaving Cert
- red alert
- sturt
- wert
- ambivert
- ambiverts
- apert
- Baie Verte
- begirt
- BERT
- birt
- dissert
- extrovert
- gert
- gurt
- insert
- Kurt
- pirate shirt
- poet shirt
- puffball skirt
- quirt
- reassert
- smirt
- unalert
- unhurt
- wedding shirt
Questions about overt
- What does overt mean?
- Overt means open and not concealed or secret.
- What is overt in Urdu?
- Overt in Urdu is عام, ظاہر. See Overt meaning in Urdu.
- How do you use overt in a sentence?
- The buſineſs of Overt-Acts is, where the Compaſſing and Imagining the King's Death is the Crime and Queſtion, and this muſt be diſcover'd by Overt-Acts.
- What part of speech is overt?
- Overt can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce overt?
- Overt is pronounced /ə(ʊ)ˈvɜːt/ (UK).
Words near overt in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overt (page history and authors); overt (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Overt (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overt (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); overt (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-overt.wav.
Cite this entry: “overt.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overt. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.