MEANING
To give a factor or idea more attention or importance than it reasonably deserves.
Use it for
criticizing excessive attention to one explanation; showing that an argument gives a factor too much weight; warning against neglecting other important influencesCriticizes excessive explanatory weight or attention, rather than merely alleging that a factual claim is exaggerated. Academic functions: Argumentation, Qualification / Uncertainty, Significance / Scope.
Words that belong together
- overemphasize the role of
- overemphasize the importance of
- overemphasize individual responsibility
On the page
Accounts focused on leadership may overemphasize personal decisions and neglect institutional constraints.
The review argues that earlier studies overemphasized short-term gains.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- overemphasize
- Past tense
- overemphasized
- Past participle
- overemphasized
- Present participle
- overemphasizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- overemphasize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are overemphasizing
- Present perfect
- have/has overemphasized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been overemphasizing
- Past
- overemphasized
- Past continuous
- was/were overemphasizing
- Past perfect
- had overemphasized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been overemphasizing
- Future
- will overemphasize
- Future continuous
- will be overemphasizing
- Future perfect
- will have overemphasized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been overemphasizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Transitive. Third-person singular overemphasizes; simple past and past participle overemphasized; present participle overemphasizing. British spelling overemphasise is the same canonical word. Register: neutral. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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