COMPENSATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does compensation mean? 

• COMPENSATION (noun)
  The noun COMPENSATION has 3 senses:

1. something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)

2. (psychiatry) a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors

3. the act of compensating for service or loss or injury

  Familiarity information: COMPENSATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMPENSATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something (such as money) given or received as payment or reparation (as for a service or loss or injury)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("compensation" is a kind of...):

recompense (payment or reward (as for service rendered))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compensation"):

overcompensation (excessive compensation)

workmen's compensation (compensation for death or injury suffered by a worker in the course of his employment)

reimbursement (compensation paid (to someone) for damages or losses or money already spent etc.)

emolument (compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees))

blood money (compensation paid to the family of a murdered person)

amends; damages; indemnification; indemnity; redress; restitution (a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury)

counterbalance; offset (a compensating equivalent)

reparation ((usually plural) compensation exacted from a defeated nation by the victors)

reparation (compensation (given or received) for an insult or injury)

Derivation:

compensate (make payment to; compensate)

compensate (make amends for; pay compensation for)

compensate (do or give something to somebody in return)

compensate (make reparations or amends for)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(psychiatry) a defense mechanism that conceals your undesirable shortcomings by exaggerating desirable behaviors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural processes

Hypernyms ("compensation" is a kind of...):

defence; defence mechanism; defence reaction; defense; defense mechanism; defense reaction ((psychiatry) an unconscious process that tries to reduce the anxiety associated with instinctive desires)

Domain category:

psychiatry; psychological medicine; psychopathology (the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compensation"):

overcompensation ((psychiatry) an attempt to overcome a real or imagined defect or unwanted trait by overly exaggerating its opposite)

Derivation:

compensate (make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of compensating for service or loss or injury

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

compensation; recompense

Hypernyms ("compensation" is a kind of...):

correction; rectification (the act of offering an improvement to replace a mistake; setting right)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "compensation"):

indemnification (an act of compensation for actual loss or damage or for trouble and annoyance)

Derivation:

compensate (make payment to; compensate)

compensate (make amends for; pay compensation for)

compensate (do or give something to somebody in return)

compensate (make reparations or amends for)

compensate (adjust for)

 Context examples 

You also have Pluto there, echoing Jupiter’s promise of generous compensation in the wings if you prove your worth on this project.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A coding scheme used to describe the possible methods of compensation in an occupation.

(Employee Salary Type, NCI Thesaurus)

Twice Henderson has lashed at folk with his dog-whip, and only his long purse and heavy compensation have kept him out of the courts.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"What do you—that is, what compensation—" began Jo, not exactly knowing how to express herself.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

This in itself was compensation, for it is always easier to lean upon another than to stand alone.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

“She has been an angel, mother,” returned Steerforth, “for a little while; and has run into the opposite extreme, since, by way of compensation.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But the compensations of such religion are denied Wolf Larsen.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Mr. Oliver evidently regarded the young clergyman's good birth, old name, and sacred profession as sufficient compensation for the want of fortune.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

For two months, however, I was true to my determination; for two months, I led a life of such severity as I had never before attained to, and enjoyed the compensations of an approving conscience.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Yet the misery, for which years of happiness were to offer no compensation, received soon afterwards material relief, from observing how much the beauty of her sister re-kindled the admiration of her former lover.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)