hypercorrect

American  

[hahy-per-kuh-rekt] / ˌhaɪ pər kəˈrɛkt /

adjective

1. overly correct; excessively fastidious; fussy.

   hypercorrect manners.

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

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hypercorrect British  

/ ˌhaɪpəkəˈrɛkt /

adjective

1. excessively correct or fastidious

2. resulting from or characterized by hypercorrection

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Other Word Forms

• hypercorrectly adverb
• hypercorrectness noun

Etymology

Origin of hypercorrect

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.

From 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.

From 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.

From Project Gutenberg