What does overrule mean?
Overrule is a formal verb meaning to reject, reverse, or set aside a decision or ruling. Its clearest application is in law: an appellate court may overrule a trial court, meaning that the lower decision is set aside because it was legally incorrect. More broadly, an official or person with greater authority can overrule a subordinate, an objection, an instruction, or an established decision. The word therefore conveys more than simple disagreement: it suggests that someone with recognized authority has determined that a prior decision should not stand. In everyday use, overrule can sound official or confrontational, but it remains common in legal, governmental, institutional, and business contexts. It is related in meaning to override, overturn, reverse, annul, disallow, and veto. The opposite idea can be expressed with words such as uphold or affirm, which mean to support or confirm a decision.
verbTo reject, overturn, or disregard a decision or ruling by a person or body with the authority to do so. In legal use, it especially means to reverse the decision of a lower court.
- To reverse or overturn the decision of a lower court or other authoritative body.
- To use superior authority to set aside a decision, instruction, objection, or established course of action.
"The appellate court overruled the trial judge's ruling and ordered a new hearing."
"The Supreme Court overruled the lower court's interpretation of the statute."
"The principal overruled the department's proposal and continued the existing policy."
"The chair overruled a procedural objection and invited the witness to continue."
Overrule is the legal verb for when a higher court says that a lower court's decision cannot stand.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of overrule
Overrule is a compound formed in Middle English from the prefix over- and the word rule. The prefix over- conveys the idea of acting above or beyond another person's authority, while rule comes through Anglo-French from Latin regula, meaning a rule or straight line. The resulting verb developed both its legal sense of reversing a lower decision and its broader sense of setting aside a decision made by someone else. Related English words include ruler, ruling, and misrule.
Related word forms
How overrule is actually used
Usually formal and somewhat authoritative. In legal contexts, it implies a decision made by a higher court or body with the power to reverse a lower decision; in general use, it can suggest overruling a decision, objection, or instruction through superior authority.
Easily confused with overrule
Overrule usually means to reject or reverse a decision, especially a legal ruling, whereas override more generally means to set aside a rule, instruction, or priority.