hypercharacterization redundancy hypercorrection [Grk hypér ‘over’] (also hyperurbanism)

Process and result of an exaggerated attempt on the part of a speaker to adopt or imitate linguistic forms or a linguistic variety that he/ she considers to be particularly prestigious. Hypercorrection, which is frequently found in the behavior of social groups aspiring to raise their stature, tends even to exceed the ideal norms of speech of the higher social classes and therefore sounds ‘unnatural.’