hypercorrect
English
Alternative forms
- hyper-correct
Etymology
Back-formation from hypercorrection.
Adjective
hypercorrect (comparative more hypercorrect, superlative most hypercorrect)
- (grammar) Nonstandard because of a mistaken idea of standard usage.
Derived terms
- hypercorrective, hyper-corrective
- hypercorrectly
- hypercorrectness, hyper-correctness
- hypercorrectism, hyper-correctism
Translations
nonstandard because of a mistaken idea of standard usage
|
Verb
hypercorrect (third-person singular simple present hypercorrects, present participle hypercorrecting, simple past and past participle hypercorrected)
- (transitive) To change (a word or phrase) to a nonstandard form in the mistaken belief that it is standard usage.
- 2007 October 28, William Safire, “And Now This”, in New York Times:
- I use reduplicate to mean redouble, though both words should mean quadruple, but English is funny that way, so hold off on the hypercorrecting gotcha!
-
Further reading
- “hypercorrect”, in Collins English Dictionary.
- “hypercorrect, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- hypercorrect at OneLook Dictionary Search
- “hypercorrect”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
- “hypercorrect” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2023.
French
Pronunciation
- (mute h) IPA(key): /i.pɛʁ.kɔ.ʁɛkt/
Adjective
hypercorrect (feminine hypercorrecte, masculine plural hypercorrects, feminine plural hypercorrectes)
- hypercorrect
Related terms
- hypercorrection
- hypercorriger
Further reading
- “hypercorrect”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.