hypercorrect

[hahy-per-kuh-rekt]

adjective

1. overly correct; excessively fastidious; fussy.

   hypercorrect manners.

2. of, relating to, or characterized by hypercorrection.

hypercorrect

/ ˌhaɪpəkəˈrɛkt /

adjective

1. excessively correct or fastidious

2. resulting from or characterized by hypercorrection

Other Word Forms

• hypercorrectness noun
• hypercorrectly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypercorrect¹

First recorded in 1920–25; hyper- + correct

Example Sentences

Some writers, dimly sensing that were is posher, hypercorrect themselves and use it with open possibilities, such as He looked at me as if he suspected I were cheating on him and If he were surprised, he didn’t show it.

Read more on Literature

Labov and his successors found that people hypercorrect most in moments of self-consciousness—when switching into a shaky second language or addressing a crowd.

Read more on Slate

At viii 15 I has the hypercorrect nil for nihil, and at xiii 26 ethereos ... deos for aetherias ... domos, but in general has few signs of deliberate alteration.

Read more on Project Gutenberg