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overcompensation

[oh-ver-kom-puh n-sey-shuh n]
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noun Psychoanalysis.
  1. a pronounced striving to neutralize and conceal a strong but unacceptable character trait by substituting for it an opposite trait.
  2. 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
Related formso·ver·com·pen·sa·to·ry [oh-ver-kuh m-pen-suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈoʊ vər kəmˈpɛn səˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for over-compensation

overcompensation

noun
  1. 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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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
over-compensation in Medicine

overcompensation

(ō′vər-kŏm′pən-sā′shən)
n.
  1. 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 Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.