overcompensate

American  

[oh-ver-kom-puhn-seyt] / ˌoʊ vərˈkɒm pənˌseɪt /

verb (used with object)

overcompensated, overcompensating

1. to compensate or reward excessively; overpay.

   Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.

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verb (used without object)

overcompensated, overcompensating

1. 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.

overcompensate British  

/ ˌəʊvəˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪt /

verb

1. to compensate (a person or thing) excessively

2. (intr) psychol to engage in overcompensation

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Other Word Forms

• overcompensatory adjective

Etymology

Origin of overcompensate

1760–70; over- + compensate; as term in psychology, perhaps back formation from overcompensation

Example Sentences

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

If anything, their father and mother took that away from them and left them feeling powerless, which explains this need for Kendall to overcompensate and try too hard and overshoot the mark.

From New York Times • May 30, 2023

To conquer it, Williams said he would overcompensate, sometimes giving artists dozens of visual references or heavily detailed documentation.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2022

He almost always makes a bad move and then tries to overcompensate.

From Salon • Aug. 11, 2022

The train is moving so slowly that I overcompensate with my landing, too used to running off the momentum, and I fall.

From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth