overcompensate
Americanverb (used with object)
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overcompensates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcompensated,
past participle, past
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overcompensating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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overcompensates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overcompensated,
past participle, past
-
overcompensating
present participle
verb
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to compensate (a person or thing) excessively
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(intr) psychol to engage in overcompensation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overcompensatesimple
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overcompensatessimple
-
have overcompensatedperfect
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has overcompensatedperfect
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am overcompensatingprogressive
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are overcompensatingprogressive
-
is overcompensatingprogressive
-
have been overcompensatingperfect progressive
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has been overcompensatingperfect progressive
Past
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overcompensatedsimple
-
had overcompensatedperfect
-
was overcompensatingprogressive
-
were overcompensatingprogressive
-
had been overcompensatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overcompensate
1760–70; over- + compensate; as term in psychology, perhaps back formation from overcompensation
Vocabulary lists containing overcompensate
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.
See Examples For:
Those caught short, like India and Australia, might overcompensate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Sometimes the former defensive player of the year is forced to overcompensate for his teammates’ mistakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2026
This sounds obvious, she says, but many people “neglect to pause” and try to overcompensate, which causes them to talk in circles.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
“For years, I internalized the idea that my brain was ‘wrong’ and that I had to work twice as hard, overcompensate and mask my symptoms to be taken seriously in professional spaces,” Colzie said.
From Salon ● Mar. 2, 2025
My feet slip in the sloping gravel—it’s like running in sand, and I overcompensate by pitching forward.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Inflationary pressures from this wage growth may mean a rate-cutting Fed overcompensates with more aggressive balance sheet cuts to sustain credibility.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
“But we think that spread in P/E multiples overcompensates for the quality difference between the two companies.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 5, 2026
If the comedy overcompensates at the expense of landing every gag, then good on her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2025
Elena rejects Dovydas at certain times, and Dovydas overcompensates at moments that have them determining if and how they can be together.
From Salon ● Jan. 21, 2023
The songs are written from the point of view of a "woman who feels powerless and overcompensates by exercising extreme control on herself and on her environment," Mitski told The Outline.
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2018
"I had money and had to keep myself occupied. I overcompensated but that's the way I dealt with it."
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2025
They championed Apple TV Plus early, for instance, even if they overcompensated by practically salivating all over “Ted Lasso.”
From Washington Post ● Jul. 12, 2022
After its sales skyrocketed in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peloton overcompensated by spending hundreds of millions to expedite shipping and build a new factory.
From The Verge ● Feb. 19, 2022
Some analyses of the relief program indicate that farmers are being overcompensated.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 1, 2019
Jessie lifted up a knee to prop up the tray but overcompensated.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
I’m not claiming that he’s overcompensating, but, yeah, he is.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
But the Finance and Leasing Association, the body that represents the lending industry, has said the FCA is "overcompensating".
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2025
“And who, over the course of the script, is overcompensating with love. That was just so me for a really large chunk of my life, frankly.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
Bowen Yang had just played an overcompensating straight guy opposite Sydney Sweeney on “Saturday Night Live.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2024
But was Rowan overcompensating now by choosing the most pleasant looking of them?
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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.
