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oversimplification

oversimplification

10 7.0
Making something seem simpler than it really is by leaving out important details
  • noun
  • /ˌoʊvərˌsɪmplɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
translation icon : simplificación excesiva
  • I think it's a vast oversimplification.
  • a gross oversimplification
  • a slight oversimplification
  • the risk of oversimplification

Some of these things are oversimplifications or actually quite wrong about Stoicism.

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Examples

  • Looking at rights as grounded in a single concept or foundational idea is an oversimplification.

    Academic text (1999)
  • However, this dismissal is an oversimplification of the relationship between the government and the governed.

    Academic text (1993)
  • It's kind of an oversimplification to say that I left.

  • But, at the risk of oversimplification, I think we can say one thing.

    Academic text (1998)
  • That feels like an oversimplification.

  • However, to leave it at that would be a gross oversimplification.

    Academic text (1992)
  • The assumption that all these systems work well would appear to be an oversimplification.

    Academic text (2006)
  • At the risk of oversimplification, one might note some general temporal trends for U.S. art museums.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Second, the picture of "the States" and "the business community" as homogeneous constituencies is an oversimplification.

    Academic text (2002)
  • It is an oversimplification to say that all students struggle with math without considering their individual strengths.

Synonyms

simplification
vsoversimplification
13 3.6

Making something less complicated so it is easier to understand

focuses instead on making things seem simpler while often ignoring key details
simplism
vsoversimplification
8.7

Act of treating a problem as simpler than it is by ignoring important details

is the same idea but framed as a single act rather than a practice
dumbification
vsoversimplification
9.9

To make a story or other content simpler and less clever

reduces complexity without implying lowered intelligence or crude simpleness

Antonyms

166 5.0

Many connected parts make something hard to understand

How Simple

oversimplification
10 7.0
summary
397 2.7
complexity
166 5.0

Surface Forms

Morphology

oversimplification = simplification (transparent) = over + simplification

The prefix 'over-' meaning 'excessively' combines with 'simplification' (the act of making simpler) to yield 'excessive simplification', a directly compositional meaning.

Etymology

Oversimplification comes from over- meaning 'too much' and simple meaning 'plain' or 'easy', and you can see the same idea in the verb simplify. It means making something 'too simple', so an oversimplification leaves out important details.