What does "hypercorrection" mean?

Nonstandard language use that results from the overapplication of a perceived prescriptive rule.

How do you pronounce "hypercorrection"?

Pronounced //ˌhaɪ.pɚ.kəˈɹɛk.ʃən//.

Common synonyms include: bull, fluff, hypercorrectism, hyperurbanism, hyperurbanism, malapropism.

//ˌhaɪ.pɚ.kəˈɹɛk.ʃən// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Nonstandard language use that results from the overapplication of a perceived prescriptive rule. countable, uncountable
2
A nonstandard form so used. countable, uncountable

From hyper- + correction.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.