overtime
noun · adverb · verb
Simple meaning
Working time outside of one's regular hours.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ohvertymSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈoʊvɚtaɪm
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
Working time outside of one's regular hours.
Work done in addition to regular working hours
sportscountableus
An extra period of play when a contest has a tie score at the end of regulation.
A period of time longer than scheduled.
adverb
Exceeding regular working hours.
Beyond the normal or usual extent.
verb
transitive
To measure something incorrectly, as taking more time than it actually did.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Working time outside of one's regular hours.
Used this way, overtime is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use overtime
- “She often has to work overtime.”adverb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A period of overtime play to resolve a tie.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.