hypercorrection

[hahy-per-kuh-rek-shuh n]

noun Linguistics.

the substitution, in an inappropriate context, of a pronunciation, grammatical form, or usage thought by the speaker or writer to be appropriate, resulting usually from overgeneralizing in an effort to replace seemingly incorrect forms with correct ones, as the substitution of between you and I for between you and me, by analogy with you and I as the subject of a sentence.

the form so substituted.

Compare hyperform, hyperurbanism.

Origin of hypercorrection

First recorded in 1930–35; hyper- + correction

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hypercorrection

Contemporary Examples of hypercorrection

Fear of offending the grammar police can even produce a novel type of error called a hypercorrection.
Go Ahead, End With a Preposition: Grammar Rules We All Can Live With
Nick Romeo
November 3, 2014

British Dictionary definitions for hypercorrection

hypercorrection

noun

a mistaken correction to text or speech made through a desire to avoid nonstandard pronunciation or grammar``between you and I'' is a hypercorrection of ``between you and me''

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012