overcapitalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fix the total amount of securities of a corporation in excess of the limits set by law or by sound financial policy.
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to overestimate the capital value (of a business property or enterprise).
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to provide an excessive amount of capital for (a business enterprise).
verb
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to provide or issue capital for (an enterprise) in excess of profitable investment opportunities
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to estimate the capital value of (a company) at an unreasonably or unlawfully high level
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to overestimate the market value of (property)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overcapitalizesimple
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overcapitalizessimple
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have overcapitalizedperfect
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has overcapitalizedperfect
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am overcapitalizingprogressive
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are overcapitalizingprogressive
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is overcapitalizingprogressive
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have been overcapitalizingperfect progressive
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has been overcapitalizingperfect progressive
Past
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overcapitalizedsimple
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had overcapitalizedperfect
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was overcapitalizingprogressive
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were overcapitalizingprogressive
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had been overcapitalizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overcapitalize
First recorded in 1885–90; over- + capitalize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A smart President, to be reelected, must not overcapitalize on his office.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some of our banks were more overcapitalized than even the average bank.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
Jackpots have only become bigger as venture capital has grown overcapitalized; last year exit values, the proceeds from selling shares, topped two hundred billion dollars for the first time.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 20, 2020
The giants say they are overcapitalized, and it’s true that their balance sheets are far stronger than before the 2008 panic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2018
When he wrote his book in 2012, “I said hedge funds were overcapitalized and returns would go down, which is exactly what has happened,” he said.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2015
In short, an attempt to operate on an overcapitalized basis will, sooner or later, lead to disaster.
From A Living from the Land by Duryee, William B.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
