Hyperstitious

I’m not typically one to binge, but recently consumed the full catalogue of Daniel Craig’s Bond movies. They left me feeling there was a word missing in the English language, a term to describe the situation where one individual embodies the values of the organisation he represents more vividly than the organisation itself ever could. I briefly entertained coining the neologism hyperpistia, rooted in the Greek words for excessive and persuasion. The notion repeatedly resurfaced in the days that followed. It was a little like the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon, only with a concept I had invented myself. As I kept getting reminded of it, I soon felt the need to expand my newfound vocabulary from noun to adjective, and first thought hyperstitious had a nice ring to it — to the point that it felt as though the word ought already to exist. Much to my surprise — and mild disappointment — I discovered that it did indeed exist, albeit in the same murky half-life way that hyperpistia does, meaning…