Overcompression
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Excessive compression. uncountable
"If Smith, bearing a valise freshly stuck with labels, walks up the street with an air at once confident and curious, I may infer that Smith has returned to town after a considerable absence. In a thousand little ways the skilled writer may guide his readers to their own deductions and, while effecting an economy of space, confer pleasure upon them in so doing. Yet there is relatively little of this swift and confident style. Only good writers seem to possess it and not all of them, for writers there are whose substance interests despite defective artistry. Doubtless the vicious habit of editors of paying a fixed rate per word rather than a price dependent upon compactness and intensity has much to do with the prevailing cult of wordiness and obviousness. Certainly nine-tenths of creditable short stories might be improved by cutting away superfluities and by the substitution of suggestion for explanation. Clearness is, however, the first essential and must not be sacrificed. Kipling, whose suggestive short cuts in style are worthy the study of any writer, is sometimes rather obscure by reason of overcompression."
Example
More examples"If Smith, bearing a valise freshly stuck with labels, walks up the street with an air at once confident and curious, I may infer that Smith has returned to town after a considerable absence. In a thousand little ways the skilled writer may guide his readers to their own deductions and, while effecting an economy of space, confer pleasure upon them in so doing. Yet there is relatively little of this swift and confident style. Only good writers seem to possess it and not all of them, for writers there are whose substance interests despite defective artistry. Doubtless the vicious habit of editors of paying a fixed rate per word rather than a price dependent upon compactness and intensity has much to do with the prevailing cult of wordiness and obviousness. Certainly nine-tenths of creditable short stories might be improved by cutting away superfluities and by the substitution of suggestion for explanation. Clearness is, however, the first essential and must not be sacrificed. Kipling, whose suggestive short cuts in style are worthy the study of any writer, is sometimes rather obscure by reason of overcompression."
Etymology
From over- + compression.
More for "overcompression"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.