Overprioritize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Assigning greater importance or urgency to a task, goal or concern than it actually deserves, often at the expense of other matters
2. Placing excessive emphasis on one item so that it outranks things that should come first in a sensible order of importance
3. Treating a particular issue as more pressing or central than the situation warrants, thereby neglecting other responsibilities

Etymology: "Overprioritize" is a plain formation: the prefix "over-", meaning "too much" or "excessively," attached to "prioritize," which is itself a verb built from "priority." The word "priority" came into English in the sixteenth century from medieval Latin "prioritas," from "prior," meaning "earlier" or "former," the comparative of "prae," "before." The verb "prioritize" followed much later, in the twentieth century, when English speakers needed a way to talk about arranging tasks by importance. Put together, "overprioritize" means to give something a higher rank of importance than it deserves, so that it crowds out other matters. The pattern is the same as "overemphasize" or "overvalue," where "over-" simply signals excess applied to an existing verb. Because "over-" can attach to almost any verb, the word is a recent, transparent coinage rather than one with a dramatic history.

Synonyms: overemphasize, overvalue

Antonyms: underrate