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to overcapitalize

to overcapitalize

8.9
Give a business more money or value than it needs
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈkæpɪˌtaɪz/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sobrecapitalizar
  • The real estate market was overcapitalized, leading to inflated property values.

Examples

  • Many new startups are overcapitalized, resulting in unrealistic financial projections.

  • Despite the recent financial crisis and mounting litigation against banks due to mortgage-backed securities, global banks are somehow overcapitalized and less leveraged.

    Blog text (8)
  • Hedge funds figure prominently for many of them, and their investment committees are learning the hard way that uncorrelated returns are not unlimited and that the hedge fund industry is overcapitalized.

    Blog text (17)
  • Investors often overcapitalize businesses, expecting higher returns than realistic.

Synonyms

to overvalue
vsto overcapitalize
13 5.8

To think something is worth more than it really is

also involves supplying too much capital rather than only rating worth
to overinflate
vsto overcapitalize
1 5.1

Make something seem much bigger or more important than it is

focuses on financial estimation or excess funding rather than general exaggeration

Antonyms

undercapitalization
  • Specialized
1 8.2

Not having enough money to run or grow a business

How Capitalized

to overcapitalize
  • Specialized
8.9
to capitalize
  • Specialized
3 5.5

Surface Forms

overcapitalize infinitive
overcapitalized past participle
overcapitalizing present participle
overcapitalizes third person singular

Morphology

overcapitalize = capitalize (transparent) = over + capital + ize

Formed by adding the productive prefix 'over-' (meaning 'excessively') to the verb 'capitalize', so the meaning is directly derived.

Etymology

Overcapitalize is made of over- meaning 'too much' and capitalize, from capital, which comes from Latin caput meaning 'head' and later came to mean 'money'. So to overcapitalize a business is to give it 'too much' capital or value, which can hurt its long-term success.