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Glite Dictionary
to overgeneralize

to overgeneralize

1 8.0
To make a general rule from a few cases and ignore important differences
  • verb
  • /ˌoʊvərˈdʒɛnəraɪz/
translation icon : sobregeneralizar
  • avoid overgeneralizing

Examples

  • I think she may be letting her frustration with a particular text cause her to overgeneralize.

    Blog text (25)

  • How in the world can you overgeneralize from your tiny, biased sample and still believe your own conclusion?

    Blog text (9)

  • Danny's responses indicated that he was overgeneralizing his understanding of place value.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Since the needs of a low-vision person and of a blind person can be very different, it is important not to overgeneralize the nature of visual impairment.

    Academic text (2012)

  • While increasing cognitive complexity leads teens to become more introspective, some also become vulnerable to overgeneralizing and selectively focusing on negative experiences.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Teachers should be cautious not to overgeneralize the results of a single study to all students.

  • When giving feedback, it's easy to overgeneralize and say that all team members are underperforming.

  • Psychologists warn about the tendency to overgeneralize negative experiences, which might lead to a pessimistic outlook.

Synonyms

to generalize
vsto overgeneralize
  • US
41 4.2

To form a general idea from one or a few examples

makes conclusions that go too far by ignoring particular exceptions
to paint with a broad brush
vsto overgeneralize
  • Informal
2 7.2

Describe people or things in very general ways that ignore important details

draws conclusions that are too broad and ignores specific exceptions

Antonyms

to detail
105 3.1

To describe something by giving many small facts

to specialize
  • US
7 3.8

To give a clear, exact description of one part

How General

to overgeneralize
1 8.0
to generalize
  • US
41 4.2
to infer
57 5.5
to observe
619 2.4

Surface Forms

overgeneralize infinitive
overgeneralized past
overgeneralized past participle
overgeneralizing present participle
overgeneralizes third person singular

Morphology

overgeneralize = generalize (transparent) = over + general + ize

A productive prefix 'over-' meaning 'excessively' attaches to the verb 'generalize', yielding the clear meaning 'to generalize excessively'.

Etymology

The word overgeneralize comes from the beginning over- meaning 'too much' and general meaning 'not specific'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of words like 'overcook' or 'overdo' — you make something too broad and lose the small facts, so to overgeneralize is to make a rule too wide and ignore details.