overpunctuate

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ punctuate.

Verb

overpunctuate (third-person singular simple present overpunctuates, present participle overpunctuating, simple past and past participle overpunctuated)

1. To punctuate excessively.
   • 1893, John F[ranklin] Genung, “The Sentence”, in Outlines of Rhetoric Embodied in Rules, Illustrative Examples, and a Progressive Course of Prose Composition, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y., Chicago, Ill., London: Ginn & Company, part II (Organization of Materials), chapter section II (Punctuation of the Sentence), page 191:

     Do not overpunctuate; it is much easier than to underpunctuate. The general tendency nowadays is to make punctuation less copious than formerly.

   • 1924, Arnold Levitas, Editorial English, New York, N.Y.: Roy Press, page 16:

     In such works it is of the utmost importance to leave no room for doubt as to the meaning of the text, and the policy, in consequence, is to overpunctuate rather than not to punctuate enough.

   • 1925, Henry Seidel Canby, John Baker Opdycke, Good English: Book Two: The Elements of Composition, The Macmillan Company, page 163:

     Do not overpunctuate. But do not underpunctuate. Make your sentence constructions so clear that it will be possible for you to keep punctuation at a minimum.

   • 1979, William F. Irmscher, Teaching Expository Writing, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, →ISBN, page 164:

     If there is any tendency in punctuation, it is to overpunctuate rather than underpunctuate in order to keep fairly involved sentences moving smoothly.

   • 1984, Stephen White, The Written Word, and Associated Digressions Concerned with the Writer as Craftsman, Harper & Row, →ISBN, pages 73 and 93:

     Under those circumstances, I felt obliged to use every device I could imagine to assist them in reading their lines, and sprinkled punctuation amid my prose like a glutton sugaring strawberries. It helped, and I tend to overpunctuate to this day. I practice overpunctuation, although I do not defend it. But the word processor, I believe, will in time change our perceptions of what constitutes overpunctuation. […] I myself overpunctuate wildly, probably for the reason I pointed out earlier, although it may only be that my genes are badly tangled or something of that general sort.

   • 1985, Mamie Atkins, Instructor's Manual, Prentice Hall Handbook for Writers, Prentice Hall, →ISBN, page 68:

     Students may overpunctuate rather than underpunctuate sentences. Because they feel that sentences must be punctuated, students have a tendency to insert commas randomly through sentences.

   • 2003, Larry Newman, “International Proposals”, in Shipley Associates Proposal Guide for Business Development Professionals, 2nd edition, Shipley Associates, →ISBN, page 69:

     When in doubt, overpunctuate. Punctuation is important in all types of writing, but it is mandatory in international documents. Without punctuation, the probability of the evaluator getting lost increases dramatically. Overpunctuate international proposals, even though the trend is to under punctuate in domestic correspondence. The intent of punctuation is to add clarity, so make sure your overpunctuation is correct.

Antonyms

• underpunctuate

Related terms

• overpunctuation