overcompensate

[oh-ver-kom-puhn-seyt]

verb (used with object)

overcompensated, overcompensating 

1. to compensate or reward excessively; overpay.

   Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.

verb (used without object)

overcompensated, overcompensating 

1. to exhibit psychological overcompensation; strive to overcome a sense of inferiority through overt, opposite behavior.

   The aggressive patient may be overcompensating, and be a profoundly shy person beneath the façade.

overcompensate

/ ˌəʊvəˈkɒmpɛnˌseɪt /

verb

1. to compensate (a person or thing) excessively

2. (intr) psychol to engage in overcompensation

Other Word Forms

• overcompensatory adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of overcompensate¹

1760–70; over- + compensate; as term in psychology, perhaps back formation from overcompensation

Example Sentences

“But we have to be on the same page and trust that the guy next to us is going to do his job, and we don’t have to overcompensate for anything.”

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If the comedy overcompensates at the expense of landing every gag, then good on her.

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But the Finance and Leasing Association, the body that represents the lending industry, has said the FCA is "overcompensating".

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There was the stomach virus at the start of the year, which caused him to lose 20 pounds and develop bad swing habits while overcompensating for a decline in physical strength.

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Rudy may have been the scene-stealer in the earliest seasons of the show, but Theo had the most heart, striving to live up to his parents’ high expectations while behaviorally overcompensating for his low grades.

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