Overprioritise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Assigning greater importance or urgency to a task or concern than it deserves, at the expense of other matters
2. Treating one item as more pressing than is warranted, thereby neglecting other things that need attention
3. Placing excessive emphasis on a particular goal or issue so that competing demands are pushed aside

Etymology: "Overprioritise" is a plain English compound: the prefix "over-", meaning "too much" or "excessively," attached to "prioritise." That verb comes from "priority," which entered English in the 1600s from Medieval Latin "prioritas," itself built from Latin "prior," meaning "earlier" or "former." Originally "priority" meant only the state of being earlier or first in time, and its sense of "what matters most" developed later, in the 1800s. "Prioritise" is a 20th-century back-formation from "priority," with the verb form appearing in the 1900s. The Oxford English Dictionary records it as a modern coinage, so the word has existed only for about a century, which is why it is still sometimes flagged by style guides as jargon. Attaching "over-" to a verb is a productive English pattern, as in "overcook" or "overthink," so "overprioritise" follows the same route and has been in use mainly since the late 20th century.

Synonyms: overemphasise, overvalue

Antonyms: underprioritise