overcompensate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
overcompensates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcompensated,
past participle, past
-
overcompensating
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
overcompensates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcompensated,
past participle, past
-
overcompensating
present participle
verb
-
to compensate (a person or thing) excessively
-
(intr) psychol to engage in overcompensation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
overcompensatesimple
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overcompensatessimple
-
have overcompensatedperfect
-
has overcompensatedperfect
-
am overcompensatingprogressive
-
are overcompensatingprogressive
-
is overcompensatingprogressive
-
have been overcompensatingperfect progressive
-
has been overcompensatingperfect progressive
Past
-
overcompensatedsimple
-
had overcompensatedperfect
-
was overcompensatingprogressive
-
were overcompensatingprogressive
-
had been overcompensatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overcompensate
1760–70; over- + compensate; as term in psychology, perhaps back formation from overcompensation
Vocabulary lists containing overcompensate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Those caught short, like India and Australia, might overcompensate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Sometimes the former defensive player of the year is forced to overcompensate for his teammates’ mistakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2026
This sounds obvious, she says, but many people “neglect to pause” and try to overcompensate, which causes them to talk in circles.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
“For years, I internalized the idea that my brain was ‘wrong’ and that I had to work twice as hard, overcompensate and mask my symptoms to be taken seriously in professional spaces,” Colzie said.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2025
Her breeziness was forced, laid on thickly, and Ifemelu felt burdened with guilt, and with a desire to overcompensate.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Sepsis, which can be life-threatening and is difficult to spot, is an emergency reaction to infection where the immune system overcompensates and damages tissues and organs.
From BBC ● Apr. 26, 2026
Inflationary pressures from this wage growth may mean a rate-cutting Fed overcompensates with more aggressive balance sheet cuts to sustain credibility.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
“But we think that spread in P/E multiples overcompensates for the quality difference between the two companies.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 5, 2026
If the comedy overcompensates at the expense of landing every gag, then good on her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2025
Elena rejects Dovydas at certain times, and Dovydas overcompensates at moments that have them determining if and how they can be together.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2023
While it overcompensated in response to some prompts, in others it was “more cautious than we intended and refused to answer certain prompts entirely — wrongly interpreting some very anodyne prompts as sensitive.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
Others are saying she overcompensated for her unconvincing aggressiveness last time round - and was too defensive this time.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2022
After its sales skyrocketed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peloton overcompensated by spending hundreds of millions to expedite shipping and build a new factory.
From The Verge ● Feb. 19, 2022
The hospital overcompensated physicians in violation of two federal laws, Leach said.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 13, 2020
Jessie lifted up a knee to prop up the tray but overcompensated.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
But the Finance and Leasing Association, the body that represents the lending industry, has said the FCA is "overcompensating".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2025
The movie seems to recoil from its own hammering dramatics, with Bryce Dessner’s score toggling uneasily between jocular blues and dour, overcompensating strings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2025
“You don’t think he’s overcompensating do you?” a former GOP member of Congress asked me.
From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2025
Bowen Yang had just played an overcompensating straight guy opposite Sydney Sweeney on “Saturday Night Live.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2024
But was Rowan overcompensating now by choosing the most pleasant looking of them?
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
