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
Plus they have a lost of fixed costs that are over-the-top, i.e., they are overcapitalized.
From Forbes ● Sep. 21, 2011
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.
