overclassification

noun

Excessive classification.

Scrabble 28
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Meanings

nounoverclassification (usually uncountable, plural overclassifications)

plural overclassifications

  1. uncountableusuallyExcessive classification.

    According to the bill’s sponsor, Representative Steve Driehaus, Democrat of Ohio, there were 362,000 F.O.I.A. requests last year, and almost a third of them still remain to be processed because of overclassification.

    2009 March 23, “They Can’t Tell You”, in New York Times

Origin

From over- + classification.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

overclassification. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overclassification

MLA

“overclassification.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overclassification. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overclassification,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overclassification.

Source: overclassification on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.