overhearing

verb

present participle of overhear
as in hearing
to listen to (another in private conversation) it's not polite to try to overhear intimate friends sharing confidences

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 overhearing We weren’t allowed to leave the room to prevent anyone from overhearing our conversations and perhaps posting [the questions] on the Internet. — Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 11 Aug. 2026 But despite getting back together in season two, the finale ended on a cliffhanger of Alex overhearing Jackie confess her love to his brother Cole. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 8 Aug. 2026 The last season ended with Alex overhearing Cole’s dramatic love confession to Jackie and a cliffhanger about patriarch George’s health. — Madeleine Janz, PEOPLE, 1 Aug. 2026 Muraki admitted overhearing her comments about the home but denied handing a note during their first meeting. — Sacbee.com, 7 July 2026 The episode ends with Teddy getting a voicemail from Owen and overhearing a bridge collapse and car crash that may be fatal. — Taijuan Moorman, USA Today, 1 May 2026 Another resident reported frequently overhearing arguing coming from the apartment. — Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 1 May 2026 The only real threat is a whistleblower, like an outcast kid overhearing the whole criminal scheme from the floor below his mother’s office. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 12 Apr. 2026 Haley began making the octopi after overhearing a nurse saying some would be helpful in the NICU. — ABC News, 26 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for overhearing
  1. hearing
  2. spying
  3. monitoring
  4. snooping
Verb
  • Only 7% cover accommodations for mobility limitation, hearing disability, vision impairment and sensory disabilities.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026
  • The district court judge hearing the case disagreed and ordered that the government had to continue funding legal services.
    — Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of hearing
Verb
  • Why does English football view spying as a heinous crime while other countries openly admit to using drones to study upcoming opponents?
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Just across the sea lie North Korea, China and Russia, which all have powerful spying capacities that Japan isn’t fully equipped to fend off.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 31 July 2026
Definition of spying
Verb
  • As the outbreak spreads and kills people faster than any other outbreak of the disease in history, a major source of concern for monitoring efforts is miners constantly on the move and in hard-to-reach, unsafe territories.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
  • The Justice Department said approximately four attorneys from its Civil Rights Division are monitoring polls in Miami-Dade.
    — Sergio Candido, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of monitoring
Verb
  • An alcoholic drink will give you a buzz, but if someone laced it with something dangerous, a new poison-snooping patch will buzz your skin to warn you.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Cady had injected some narcotic into a Georgia peach to knock Natalie out ahead of his confrontation with Crystal on the houseboat, but Ray snooping around on the Bowdens’s behalf led to this deadly improvisation.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 10 July 2026
Definition of snooping

Browse Nearby Words

overheard
overhearing
overhears
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Cite this Entry

“Overhearing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/overhearing. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on overhearing

Nglish: Translation of overhearing for Spanish Speakers

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