overcorrect

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *úp

Proto-Indo-European *-er

Proto-Indo-European *upér

Proto-Germanic *uber

Old English ofer-

Middle English over-

English over-

English correct

English overcorrect

From over- + correct.

Verb

overcorrect (third-person singular simple present overcorrects, present participle overcorrecting, simple past and past participle overcorrected)

1. To correct too sharply or too much
   • 2007 July 5, Michelle York, “Alcohol Not a Factor in S.U.V. Crash That Killed 5 Friends”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 November 2022:

     […] Ms. Goodman, who was driving, overcorrected after passing a slow-moving vehicle.

Derived terms

• overcorrection

Related terms

• hypercorrect