OVERCOMPENSATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does overcompensate mean? 

• OVERCOMPENSATE (verb)
  The verb OVERCOMPENSATE has 2 senses:

1. make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities

2. make excessive corrections for fear of making an error

  Familiarity information: OVERCOMPENSATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OVERCOMPENSATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they overcompensate    ... he / she / it overcompensates   
Past simple: overcompensated   
Past participle: overcompensated   
-ing form: overcompensating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

compensate; cover; overcompensate

Context example:

he is compensating for being a bad father

Hypernyms (to "overcompensate" is one way to...):

compensate; correct; counterbalance; even off; even out; even up; make up (adjust for)

Verb group:

cover; insure; underwrite (protect by insurance)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make excessive corrections for fear of making an error

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

over-correct; overcompensate

Hypernyms (to "overcompensate" is one way to...):

compensate; correct; redress; right (make reparations or amends for)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

This avoids a common drawback of diabetes treatments which can overcompensate on insulin exposure and leave the patient with harmful or dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).

(Researchers Develop Insulin-Producing Cells Activated by Light for Diabetes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)