Overprecise: meaning, definitions and examples

Etymology

• The word comes from 'over-', meaning excess, and 'precise', from Latin 'praecisus', meaning 'cut off' or 'short'.
• It has been in use since the late 20th century, becoming more common as precision in language and data became important.
• The construction uses a common prefix in English which emphasizes a negative aspect of the following adjective.

Psychology

• In certain contexts, being overprecise can lead to analysis paralysis, where too much detail prevents decision-making.
• People often exhibit overprecision in cognitive biases, where they overestimate the accuracy of their knowledge or predictions.
• Overprecision can be detrimental in social settings, as it may create misunderstandings or come off as condescending.

Communication

• In linguistics, being overprecise can result in overly formal or stilted language, making communication less effective.
• Writers sometimes go overboard with details in descriptions, losing the essence of the narrative and confusing readers.
• Conversationalists may become overly precise by focusing too much on specific terms, leading to a loss of the main message.

Technology

• In data science, overprecision can occur when models are too finely tuned to historical data, failing to generalize to new cases.
• Programmers may be overprecise when documenting code, which can make the documentation difficult to understand for others.
• AI systems that are trained to be overly precise might miss the broader context, leading to errors in understanding human language.

Art and Literature

• In literature, characters who are overprecise can often come off as pedantic, creating tension in dialogue.
• Artists may struggle with an overprecise approach, finding it hard to capture spontaneous moments in their work.
• Poets sometimes grapple with the concept of precision in language, seeking a balance between detail and imagery in their verses.