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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

overparticularize en · VERB

Etymology

over- + particularize

Meanings

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To speak [of] in excessively particular terms; overspecify.
    • The phrase "gay and lesbian" in the names of our organizations has apparently completed its evolution to "gay, lesbian and bisexual." The next step, no doubt, will be to adopt the French construction and label ourselves, collectively, "gay, lesbian, bisexual and bisexuelles," to differentiate between males and females attracted to both sexes. Overparticularizing hurts our image. Presenting ourselves as a coalition of three subgroups suggests to the standard All-American bigot a kabal of "special-interest groups" (as conservatives call us). It presents three "ugly" words to be assimilated, instead of one—three "fringe" groups to be accommodated. 1991 December 22, Steven Capra, “We Have To Be Careful”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 23, page 4:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
overparticularizes Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
overparticularized Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
overparticularized Tense=Past lexicographic
overparticularizing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic