to overcapitalize
- verb
- /ˌoʊvərˈkæpɪˌtaɪz/
- Specialized
- The real estate market was overcapitalized, leading to inflated property values.
Examples
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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 think something is worth more than it really is
Make something seem much bigger or more important than it is
Antonyms
How Capitalized
- Specialized
- Specialized
Surface Forms
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.