Overt
adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 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."
- 1 Open and not concealed or secret. not-comparable
"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; but there muſt be an Overt-Act to prove the Compaſſing and Imagining the Death of the King, and in no other ſort of Treaſon."
- 2 Disclosed. not-comparable
"Arg. an eagle rising wings overt inverted sa. armed or. HILTOFTE, V."
- 1 open and observable; not secret or hidden wordnet
Example
More examples"The speaker believes that overt expression of feeling for others helps people tap into their own repressed emotions."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "overt"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.