overcompensation
Americannoun
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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.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of overcompensation
1915–20; over- + compensation; as psychoanalytic term, translation of Überkompensation, coined by Alfred Adler
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.
He wore Kendall’s clothes and practiced self-doubt and the art of overcompensation.
From New York Times • May 31, 2023
"It is important to recognize that the grandiose projection of self-importance in a pathological narcissist is overcompensation for extremely low self-esteem," explained psychiatrist Dr. Bandy X. Lee in an interview with Salon.
From Salon • Jan. 26, 2023
Start your own coffee company that's draped in gun-related imagery and pretend it doesn't scream "overcompensation."
From Salon • Apr. 6, 2022
Paxton said he rushed his return from the back injury, his mechanics were not what they needed to be, and the overcompensation led to the arm troubles.
From Washington Times • Feb. 18, 2021
After what I’ve been through, some overcompensation is to be expected.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
