understatement

American  

[uhn-der-steyt-muhnt, uhn-der-steyt-] / ˌʌn dərˈsteɪt mənt, ˈʌn dərˌsteɪt- /

noun

• understatements
  plural

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.

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understatement British  

/ ˌʌndəˈsteɪtmənt /

noun

1. the act or an instance of stating something in restrained terms, or as less than it is

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understatement Cultural  

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• understatements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of understatement

under- + statement

Explanation

You make an understatement when you say a lot less than you could. If you say "We didn't do our best" when your team loses 56 to 0, that's quite an understatement. An understatement can be just the thing to make someone feel better. For example, if you are a terrible dancer and everyone seems to be pointing and laughing at you, your friend might say your style is unique. She's not lying, but she is making sad truth easier to deal with. Understatement can also be used humorously — if you have a really difficult, scary experience, you might say, "Well, that was interesting."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

understatement understatements

The chances of a life as complex and purposefully incongruent as Madonna’s fitting into one feature-length film — even two or three — are slim, and even that’s an understatement.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

To say he’ll be missed by investors, and many others, is an understatement.

From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026

The long-suffering younger Forster described his father, in an understatement, as having “a tendency toward self-love, pride, and a certain scholarly vanity.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

England head coach Thomas Tuchel said the delay to their World Cup warm-up game with Costa Rica gave them a "little taste of what can happen" - but will that prove to be an understatement?

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

“Weird is like the biggest understatement of all time,” he said, shoving his hands into his hair.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

As for the camp factor, many massive understatements in the script will trigger appreciative howls of laughter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

It was one of the greatest understatements of all time.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025

“Obviously, they’re going through some of their own issues,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said Tuesday in one of the understatements of the college football season.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 14, 2023

In the world of understatements, saying there’s a lot of television out there has to rank among the boldest.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2022

Possibly there would be greater understatements in the remaining ninety-nine years of the Twenty-first Century, but Carlstrom doubted it.

From A Prize for Edie by Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin) Bone