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
"With coordinated engagement between academia, clinicians, and industry, vanillin has the potential to progress from an underutilized bioactive to a clinically deployable component of next-generation wound care and regenerative therapeutics," says Professor Vasilev.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026
"There is definitely an increase in there and it is partially related to tariffs," she said, noting that in some cases automakers are reconfiguring plants or making use of underutilized capacity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
And, with the museum’s dim lighting, dated technology and underutilized areas, it can feel at times as if one is wandering in a past-its-prime shopping mall or in the forgotten corner of an airport terminal.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2026
Other proposals include $10 billion in bonds to build mixed-income housing on underutilized public lands, limits on investor purchases of single-family homes and an expansion of down payment and other types of mortgage assistance.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
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
He has been delaying and underutilizing it so far.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2021
The hardest thing for me always, and it still is about this job, is making sure I’m not underutilizing Viola.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 2, 2020
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
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