overcompensate
Use Overcompensate in a sentence
vərˈkɒm verb (used with object)
1.
to compensate or reward excessively; overpay: Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.
verb (used without object)
2.
to exhibit psychological overcompensation; strive to overcome a sense of inferiority through overt, opposite behavior: The aggressive patient may be overcompensating, and be a profoundly shy person beneath the façade.
Origin:
1760–70; over- + compensate; as term in psychology, perhaps back formation from overcompensation
1760–70; over- + compensate; as term in psychology, perhaps back formation from overcompensation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To overcompensate
Collins
World English Dictionary
overcompensate (ˌəʊvəˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | to compensate (a person or thing) excessively |
| 2. | (intr) psychol to engage in overcompensation |
| over'compensatory | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Overcompensate
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
Example sentences
In a heart under severe stress, some cells die and others overcompensate.
Unless compensation proposals explicitly considered that phenomenon, they might overcompensate some property owners.
They intensify blue, causing red and green to overcompensate in the image.
Maybe it was simply trying to overcompensate for its earlier failure to investigate complaints against the recalled tires.
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