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overcompensate definition

over·com·pen·sate (ō′vər käm′pən sāt′)

transitive verb overcompensated -·sat′ed, overcompensating -·sat′·ing

to give an excessive compensation to

intransitive verb

  1. Psychol. to react to a real or imagined physical or psychological defect with a conscious or unconscious exaggerated drive to compensate for it
  2. to make more than the necessary allowance or adjustment

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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