overcompensation
[oh-ver-kom-puh n-sey-shuh n]
- a pronounced striving to neutralize and conceal a strong but unacceptable character trait by substituting for it an opposite trait.
- compensation to an unnecessary or unreasonable degree: The pay was overcompensation for the work done.
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Origin of overcompensation
1915–20; over- + compensation; as psychoanalytic term, translation of Überkompensation, coined by Alfred Adler
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
salvosatisfactionredresswagesrestitutionrecoverypaytipamendscuereparationgravyreturnindemnificationatonementrequitalpaymentredemptionquittancecompensationovercompensation
- psychol an attempt to make up for a character trait by overexaggerating its opposite
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for over-compensation
n.
1917 in the psychological sense, translating German überkompensation, from over- + compensation. A term used by A. Alder to denote exaggerated striving for power in someone who has an inner sense of inferiority.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
overcompensation
(ō′vər-kŏm′pən-sā′shən)- Excessive compensation, especially the exertion of effort beyond what is needed to compensate for a physical or psychological characteristic or defect.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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