overcompensation
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.
Origin of overcompensation
1Other words from overcompensation
- o·ver·com·pen·sa·to·ry [oh-ver-kuhm-pen-suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], /ˈoʊ vər kəmˈpɛn səˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjective
Words Nearby overcompensation
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use overcompensation in a sentence
However, the study warned that even light predation by humans could stimulate biological overcompensation, similar to when damaged plants rebound by producing more seeds, or coyotes react to culls by having large litters.
Welcome to invasivorism, the boldest solution to ethical eating yet | Matt Hongoltz-Hetling | December 7, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThis is particularly important for fine hair because an overcompensation for lack of power with increased heat won’t do much to boost volume and can quickly cause damage.
The best hair dryer: Get a salon-worthy blowout at home | Carsen Joenk | January 22, 2021 | Popular-SciencePerhaps it was some misguided means of overcompensation, an unconscious need to exert control over our situation.
The Extinction Parade: An Original Zombie Story by Max Brooks | Max Brooks | January 14, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTYou not only have to judge time, but magnitude; overcompensation is ruinous, too.
Unwise Child | Gordon Randall Garrett
British Dictionary definitions for overcompensation
/ (ˌəʊvəˌkɒmpɛnˈseɪʃən) /
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
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