underutilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fail to make practical or profitable use of.
The episodes are boring, badly paced, and completely underutilize the title character.
-
to fail to use (a machine, resource, etc.) to its full capacity.
Most companies underutilize their data assets, but some manage to leverage them to satisfy marketplace demands.
Many school systems significantly underutilize existing classroom space, yet continue to build new buildings.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of underutilize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"They underutilize services; they don't access care," said Aguilar-Gaxiola.
From Salon ● Dec. 20, 2022
“So, we don’t want to go as slow as the slowest ship, but we also don’t want to underutilize any resource,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 27, 2021
“I’ve been annoyed about this for years: We have these demographic patterns, we have this talent, but we underutilize our own people,” said Ms. Martinez-Kalinina, 34, who organizes the tech newcomer book club.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2021
“Women need to be offered alternative therapies prior to undergoing a hysterectomy. Doctors underutilize these nonsurgical options and it is a disservice to women.”
From US News ● Feb. 26, 2015
“You don’t want to underutilize an asset,” Mr. Mayer said in an interview in his roomy office.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2013
Right now it’s underutilized, but within that bubble-sheet system is a world of possibility, argues Chason Gordon—so choose wisely.
From Slate ● Jul. 30, 2026
Located in Memphis, Tennessee, the facility had been underutilized by his xAI lab, the creator of the Grok chatbot.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
He supports reducing costs by doubling people up in rooms and cutting underutilized contracts.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
“If the stop is underutilized, I would advise petitioning the city for removal,” Loggins said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 25, 2025
I think I underutilized her in the past.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
I put together a group of a few financial people to help control this and they’re finding savings by tagging things that we’re underutilizing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"If countries develop CDBCs only for domestic deployment we are underutilizing their capacity," she added.
From Reuters ● Jun. 19, 2023
And the U.S. is underutilizing anti-COVID drugs like Paxlovid, which are effective at reducing severe illness and death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2022
He has been delaying and underutilizing it so far.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2021
His engineering professors remarked that he was underutilizing his God-given talents and that he spent more time protesting and objecting that paying attention.
From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Winn Schwartau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
