overcompensation

[oh-ver-kom-puhn-sey-shuhn]

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.

overcompensation

/ ˌəʊvəˌkɒmpɛnˈseɪʃən /

noun

1. psychol an attempt to make up for a character trait by overexaggerating its opposite

Other Word Forms

• overcompensatory adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of overcompensation¹

1915–20; over- + compensation; as psychoanalytic term, translation of Überkompensation, coined by Alfred Adler

Example Sentences

But it also has a strong whiff of overcompensation.

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Bullying as overcompensation for obvious insecurity and resentment that the world does not view their mediocrity as excellence?

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The overcompensation led to a grand finale featuring both pro wrestler Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White, rather than the traditional activists and politicians one hears at a convention.

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It's definitely got an overcompensation vibe to it.

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He wore Kendall’s clothes and practiced self-doubt and the art of overcompensation.

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