What is the natural way to express the concept of 'overrated'?

For example "this actor is overrated". The nearest I can think of is この役者はこうひょうかすぎる。But I don't know if this is even grammatically correct.

More generally, is there a way to express over-something? For example "I over-cooked the egg". I think I can say 卵をにすぎる to mean "I cooked the egg too much" but that doesn't have the same feeling.

  • 2
    Unrelated to the question but just to get the cooking terms straight, 煮る is for stewing. For boiled eggs, you would say 茹ですぎる. For fried eggs, 焼きすぎる or 火を入れすぎる. For general overcooking, 火を通しすぎる. – mirka Nov 12 '15 at 7:14
  • Also ～すぎる would mean "to do [something] too much"(as in you fry eggs too much in general -> 卵を焼きすぎる)。 "To have done [something] too much" (as in after the act of frying an egg) would be ～すぎた（卵を焼きすぎた）。 – The Wandering Coder Nov 12 '15 at 8:06

If you just want to say "overrated," 「過大評価」 is the word for it.


The antonym is 「過小評価」. 「高評価すぎる」 sounds a bit strange but would be fine it it were 「高く評価されすぎる」. I think 高評価 is used often in context that imply positive impressions, which doesn't match the negative nuance of "overrated."

In general, 〜すぎる works for most of the time. You can also use 「過度に」 for "over-".

  • Would 買いかぶる be okay too? Like みんなあの俳優を買いかぶりすぎだ。, maybe? – Chocolate Nov 12 '15 at 6:34
  • 1
    That's a good point. This might just be me, but I feel like 買いかぶる is used often in conversations where someone humbly denies a compliment like: 「それは買いかぶりですよ、大したことありません。」 I do think it can also be used to criticize others. I'm not 100% sure though :-/ – NigoroJr Nov 12 '15 at 7:04

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