1. causing something to be determined or decided by more factors or conditions than are strictly necessary
Usage: present participle of overdetermine; often used in academic or technical contexts
2. in philosophy and social theory, explaining a phenomenon through multiple sufficient causes, making it difficult to isolate the primary cause
Usage: academic usage; common in Marxist and psychoanalytic theory

Examples

• The outcome was overdetermining because multiple independent factors all led to the same result.
• In psychoanalysis, a symptom may be overdetermining, arising from several unconscious conflicts simultaneously.
• The system's failure was overdetermining—equipment malfunction, human error, and poor design all contributed equally.
• Marxist critics argue that social phenomena are often overdetermining, shaped by economic, cultural, and political forces at once.
• The mathematical model was overdetermining the solution by including redundant constraints.