understatement

[ uhn-der-steyt-muhnt, uhn-der-steyt- ]

noun

1. the act or an instance of understating, or representing in a weak or restrained way that is not borne out by the facts:

   The journalist wrote that the earthquake had caused some damage. This turned out to be a massive understatement of the devastation.

understatement

1. A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is: “Hank Aaron was a pretty good ball player.”

Word History and Origins

Origin of understatement¹

under- + statement

Example Sentences

That may sound like the understatement of the century, and maybe it is.

From The Daily Beast

And considering his massive music-industry thumb print, that “you oughta know” Jack Antonoff is an understatement.

From The Daily Beast

To say that the past few years have been a watershed period of improvement for LGBT America is an understatement.

From The Daily Beast

To say that James Gunn is ecstatic is a vast understatement.

From The Daily Beast

It was a massive understatement when Frieden said, “This is a very delicate area, so to speak.”

From The Daily Beast

Howells realized the unwisdom and weakness of dogmatic insistence, and the strength of understatement.

From Project Gutenberg

This is the typical understatement of Old English rhetoric: it can only point to deliberate treachery on the part of the Eotens.

From Project Gutenberg

There is more danger of doing the injustice of understatement in commemorating a character so rounded and symmetrical.

From Project Gutenberg

You can say I have gone out on a trial run, which won't be a lie, only an understatement.

From Project Gutenberg

Her every manner convinced you comments as such were guilty of the grossest understatement.

From Project Gutenberg