overcompensation
[ oh-ver-kom-puh n-sey-shuh n ]
/ ˈoʊ vərˌkɒm pənˈseɪ ʃən /
noun Psychoanalysis.
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
1915–20;
over- +
compensation; as psychoanalytic term, translation of
Überkompensation, coined by Alfred Adler
OTHER WORDS FROM overcompensation
o·ver·com·pen·sa·to·ry [oh-ver-kuh m-pen-suh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee] /ˈoʊ vər kəmˈpɛn səˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i/, adjectiveWords nearby overcompensation
overcoating,
overcoil,
overcome,
overcommit,
overcompensate,
overcompensation,
overcomplex,
overconfident,
overconsumption,
overcook,
overcorrection
Example sentences from the Web for overcompensation
Perhaps 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 |DAILY BEASTYou not only have to judge time, but magnitude; overcompensation is ruinous, too.
Unwise Child |Gordon Randall Garrett
British Dictionary definitions for overcompensation
overcompensation
/ (ˌəʊvəˌkɒmpɛnˈseɪʃən) /
noun
psychol
an attempt to make up for a character trait by overexaggerating its opposite
Medical definitions for overcompensation
overcompensation
[ ō′vər-kŏm′pən-sā′shən ]
n.
Excessive compensation, especially the exertion of effort beyond what is needed to compensate for a physical or psychological characteristic or defect.