overdue
/ˌoʊ.vəɹˈdu/adjective, noun
overdue is spelled O-V-E-R-D-U-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “overdo vs overdue” about 170 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, overdue means “Late; especially, past a deadline or too late to fulfill a need” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in overdue?
| Letters | 7: O-V-E-R-D-U-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,928th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is overdue?
Overdue appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,928th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce overdue?
- UK /ˌəʊ.vəˈdju/
- US /ˌoʊ.vəɹˈdu/
Overdue has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-overdue.wav, En-us-overdue.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with overdue
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with overdue?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as overdue from its last stressed vowel (/u/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of overdue
- more overdue comparative
- most overdue superlative
- overdues plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does overdue mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Late; especially, past a deadline or too late to fulfill a need.
his library books were three days overdue; my car is overdue for an oil change; she finally left on a long overdue vacation
noun
- 1
A borrowed item (such as a library book) that has not been returned on time.
- 2
A payment or invoice that is past due.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Overdue in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Late; especially, past a deadline or too late to fulfill a need:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | en retard |
| German | überfällig, ausstehend |
| Portuguese | tardio |
| Spanish | atrasado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does overdue come from?
From over- + due.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).