Meaning & use
overcorrection
Last updated
An excessive or extreme correction made in response to a problem, often creating a new problem in the process.
See it in a sentence
Swerving hard to avoid the pothole, the driver overcorrected and skidded into the other lane.
The new strict policy was widely seen as an overcorrection to a relatively minor issue.
A note on using this word
"Overcorrection" is especially common in discussions of driving safety, behavioral psychology, and policy-making, where fixing one problem too aggressively creates another.
Words with a similar meaning
overreaction
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