Overappraised

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Considered something to be worth more than its true value or merit
2. Judged or estimated at an excessively high price or level
3. Assessed with an inflated or exaggerated worth beyond reality

Etymology: "Overappraised" is the past tense and past participle of "overappraise," so its history is the history of its two parts. The prefix "over-" is an ordinary English formation meaning too much or excessively, and it has been productive for centuries, attaching freely to verbs to mark an action carried too far. The base is "appraise," which entered English from Old French "aprisier," meaning to set a price on something, and ultimately from Latin "appretiare," built on "pretium," price. The combination is transparent: to appraise something is to estimate its value, and to overappraise it is to estimate that value higher than it deserves. The word therefore adds nothing to "appraise" beyond the sense of excess, which is typical of compounds built this way.