overcompensation
[ oh-ver-kom-puh n-sey-shuh n ]
/ ˈoʊ vərˌkɒm pənˈseɪ ʃən /
noun Psychoanalysis.
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.
Words nearby overcompensation
overcoating, overcoil, overcome, overcommit, overcompensate, overcompensation, overcomplex, overconfident, overconsumption, overcook, overcorrection
Origin of overcompensation
1915–20; over- + compensation; as psychoanalytic term, translation of Überkompensation, coined by Alfred Adler
OTHER WORDS FROM overcompensation
o·ver·com·pen·sa·to·ry [oh-ver-kuh m-pen-suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈoʊ vər kəmˈpɛn səˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectiveDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for over-compensation
overcompensation
/ (ˌəʊvəˌkɒmpɛnˈseɪʃən) /
noun
psychol an attempt to make up for a character trait by overexaggerating its opposite
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
Medicine definitions for over-compensation
overcompensation
[ ō′vər-kŏm′pən-sā′shən ]
n.
Excessive compensation, especially the exertion of effort beyond what is needed to compensate for a physical or psychological characteristic or defect.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.