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overcompensate

[oh-ver-kom-puhn-seyt] / ˌoʊ vərˈkɒm pənˌseɪt /


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:

I also learned to overcompensate and create a persona that helped me talk comfortably to people.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 7, 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

If anything, their father and mother took that away from them and left them feeling powerless, which explains this need for Kendall to overcompensate and try too hard and overshoot the mark.

From New York Times May 30, 2023

Her breeziness was forced, laid on thickly, and Ifemelu felt burdened with guilt, and with a desire to overcompensate.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Sepsis, which can be life-threatening and is difficult to spot, is an emergency reaction to infection where the immune system overcompensates and damages tissues and organs.

From BBC Apr. 26, 2026

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

"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

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

The hospital overcompensated physicians in violation of two federal laws, Leach said.

From Washington Times Mar. 13, 2020

DeBoer said all Jones needed was a few small adjustments as he had overcompensated from being too passive late in the season to being overly aggressive in the first four games against the Golden Knights.

From Seattle Times May 10, 2019

He was painfully shy, which, as is often the manner of the painfully shy, he overcompensated for by being too loud at the wrong times.

From "Stardust" by Neil Gaiman

However, the director of the body that represents the lending industry said before the final ruling that it thought the FCA was "overcompensating".

From BBC Mar. 31, 2026

Rudy may have been the scene-stealer in the earliest seasons of the show, but Theo had the most heart, striving to live up to his parents’ high expectations while behaviorally overcompensating for his low grades.

From Salon Jul. 23, 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




Vocabulary lists containing overcompensate


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