🇬🇧 Overdue meaning: English Vocabulary Flash Card

If something is overdue, it should have already been done, returned, or paid, but it hasn’t happened yet. It’s late, and people were expecting it earlier. For example, if your library book was due last week and you still have it, the book is overdue.

Our overdue science project was so late we tried to claim we were testing the effects of panic on students.

My overdue apology was so late my friend said, “I forgave you last week, but I’ll take the apology anyway.”

My library book is so overdue the librarian greeted it like, “Wow, I thought you moved to another country.”

My overdue thank-you note is so late I might have to write, “Thanks for the gift you gave me ten years ago.”

The overdue dentist visit was so delayed my teeth started filling out job applications to move to a cleaner mouth.

Sara held three envelopes: an overdue library notice, an overdue gas bill, an overdue birthday card she had forgotten. Rain made the overdue rent slip stick to her fingers. She ran to town, paid the overdue fines, left the slip at the counter, and breathed with relief—glad the overdue list was finally done.

This word is at the C2 level, which means it represents the highest mastery of English. It’s often used in specialized or highly formal contexts and helps you communicate with precision and subtlety, much like a native speaker.

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