hypercorrected
Mistakenly made formal
Hypercorrected describes language that has been "corrected" into error—when someone applies a grammatical rule where it doesn't belong, usually from anxiety about speaking properly.
Saying between you and I instead of the correct between you and me is hypercorrected, as is inserting an unnecessary whom.
The impulse to sound educated backfires.
Artificially contrived behavior
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- pedanticExcessively concerned with minor rules
- snobbishCondescending toward perceived inferiors
- highfalutinAffectedly superior or fancy
ostentatious · self-important · elitist · haughty · pretentious · fussy · prim · priggish
Enforcing linguistic correctness
- overcorrectionExcessive corrective action
- whomObjective form of who
- shallModal verb of futurity
- sociolinguisticsStudy of language variation
dialectology · register · code-switching · standardization · grammaticality · morphology · syntax · malapropism
Incorrectly understood or believed
- erroneousContaining factual mistakes
- faultyHaving defects or errors
- misappliedIncorrectly put to use
- misguidedBased on poor judgment
ill-formed · nonstandard · backformation · spurious · misanalysis · unwarranted · misremembered · garbled
affected
Artificially contrived behavior
- pompousAffectedly grand in manner
- pedanticExcessively concerned with minor rules
- snobbishCondescending toward perceived inferiors
highfalutin · ostentatious · self-important · elitist · haughty · pretentious · fussy · prim · priggish · stuffy
prescriptivism
Enforcing linguistic correctness
- overcorrectionExcessive corrective action
- whomObjective form of who
- shallModal verb of futurity
sociolinguistics · dialectology · register · code-switching · standardization · grammaticality · morphology · syntax · malapropism · eggcorn
mistaken
Incorrectly understood or believed
- erroneousContaining factual mistakes
- faultyHaving defects or errors
- misappliedIncorrectly put to use
misguided · ill-formed · nonstandard · backformation · spurious · misanalysis · unwarranted · misremembered · garbled · bungled
hypercorrectedcorrect
Free from error
standard · proper · grammatical · unmarked · normative
hypercorrectednatural
Not artificially produced
vernacular · colloquial · unstilted · unselfconscious · unaffected
hypercorrecteduncorrected
Not fixed or revised
undercorrected · ungrammatical · nonstandard · stigmatized · dialectal
hypercorrect, hypercorrection, hypercorrections, hypercorrecting