overbook

overbook — verb

1. to accept more reservations for seats, rooms, or time slots than can really be p

1.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to accept more reservations for seats, rooms, or time slots than can really be provided.

Example

The airline overbooked the evening flight by twelve seats.

pattern: overbook + flight + by [number] seats

During New Year week, small hotels often overbook.

intransitive use: hotels overbook

Common collocations
  • overbook a flight
  • overbook a hotel room
  • overbook appointments
  • overbook a tour bus
  • overbook by ten seats
Synonyms
  • oversell

    especially common for tickets or seats, and stresses selling beyond supply

  • double-book

    means the same room, seat, or time is promised twice, not simply that total demand is too high

  • oversubscribe

    more formal and broader, often used for courses, events, or services

Grammar Patterns

overbook + flight/train/room/tour

hotel/airline overbook

be overbooked

Usage Note

Most often takes a service or space as its object, such as a flight, hotel room, bus, or appointment slot. Passive forms are very common when the focus is on the people affected, and the verb can also be used without an object when the service is already clear from context.

Common Mistakes

The airline overbooked with ten extra passengers.
The airline overbooked the flight by ten seats.
usually name the flight, room, or other service as the direct object.
The hotel is overbook today.
The hotel is overbooked today.
after 'be', use the past participle 'overbooked'.

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Overbook' is mainly used for travel, hotels, tours, restaurants, and appointments when a business accepts more reservations than it can actually handle. 'Oversell' is very close, but it often sounds more commercial and is especially common for seats or tickets. 'Double-book' is different: it means the same room, seat, or time is given to two customers, even if the total number is not above capacity. 'Oversubscribe' is more formal and broader, and it is often used for courses, events, or services with more applicants than places. Compare: an airline can overbook a flight, a ticket office can oversell a concert, a clinic can double-book a time slot, and a training course can be oversubscribed.

overbook ↗overselldouble-bookoversubscribe

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • slightly overbook
  • deliberately overbook

Phrases

  • be overbooked
  • overbook a flight
  • overbook by four seats

Prepositions

  • overbook by [number] seats
  • overbook for a holiday weekend

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Formed in English from the prefix 'over-', meaning 'too much', and the verb 'book'. The verb 'book' first developed from the idea of writing a name into a book or list, and later came to mean reserving a seat, room, or ticket. From that sense, 'overbook' came to mean taking more reservations than the available space allows.