correction beyond what is needed or customary, esp. when leading to error; overadjustment
The pilot made an overcorrection for headwinds
Word origin
[1880–85; over- + correction]This word is first recorded in the period 1880–85. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: automatism, jackpot, pari-mutuel, quotation mark, regionalismover- is a prefixal use of over, occurring in various senses in compounds (overboard; overcoat; overhang; overlap; overlord; overrun; overthrow), and especially employed, with the sense of “over the limit,” “to excess,” “toomuch,” “too,” to form verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns (overact; overcapitalize; overcrowd; overfull; overmuch; oversupply; overweight), and many others, mostly self-explanatory: a hyphen, which is commonly absent fromold or well-established formations, is sometimes used in new coinages or in any wordswhose component parts it may be desirable to set off distinctly
Examples of 'overcorrection' in a sentence
overcorrection
We are, it seems, in a period of overcorrection.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
But it tends to be an overcorrection or an over-management of this risk rather than an entirely unnecessary creation.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The next couple of years will decide whether there has simply been an overcorrection or if this is something structural.