MEANING
More importance or attention given to something than its role or significance warrants.
Use it for
criticizing excessive weight given to one explanation; qualifying an interpretation focused on one factor; distinguishing an imbalance of attention from a factual error; showing how an argument neglects other relevant considerationsCriticizes disproportionate attention or importance without necessarily claiming that the emphasized facts are false. Writing functions: Qualification / Uncertainty, Evaluation, Limitation.
Words that belong together
- an overemphasis on individual choice
- avoid overemphasis
- an overemphasis on short-term results
On the page
An overemphasis on motivation obscures the constraints imposed by housing and transport.
The review finds an overemphasis on exceptional cases rather than a shortage of evidence overall.
Word forms
- Base
- overemphasis
Usage notes
Usually an uncountable noun, or singular with an overemphasis on. No routine plural is needed for the ordinary abstract sense. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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