oversell

over·sell (ō′vər sel′)

transitive verb -·sold′, -·sell′·ing

to sell more than can be supplied
☆ to promote, try to persuade, etc. to such an extreme degree as to defeat one's purposes

glut the market with, overpromote, promote too hard, promote too much; see sell 1.

Used with why or when

what: Never confuse your clients about what you are going to do or oversell what youâre able to do for them.â Stay informed.

Object

advantage: LSE's Dr. Edgar Whitey told BBC News the government had previously oversold the advantages of the cards.

Subject

scientist: The public inquiry which followed concluded that gene therapy has been oversold by the scientists themselves [ 2 ] .

Modifying Another Word

n't: You need to be just as alert and ready to sell yourself, but do n't oversell when people already know you.
grossly: Nano-technology has been grossly oversold by its proponents, not an unusual situation when substantial funding is being squabbled over.
vastly: The case that floating rates would be stable was vastly oversold at least by European exponents of the system.
never: Ian is passionate about his ideas but will never oversell them, as he believes that good ideas speak for themselves.
very: This would have been on the assumption that insurance stocks were very oversold against the overall market.

Preposition: by

scientist: The public inquiry which followed concluded that gene therapy has been oversold by the scientists themselves [ 2 ] .

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