overcompensation
Americannoun
-
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
- overcompensatory adjective
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.
But it also has a strong whiff of overcompensation.
From Salon
Bullying as overcompensation for obvious insecurity and resentment that the world does not view their mediocrity as excellence?
From Salon
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.
From Salon
It's definitely got an overcompensation vibe to it.
From Salon
He wore Kendall’s clothes and practiced self-doubt and the art of overcompensation.
From New York Times
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.
