understate
verb (used with object)
to state or represent less strongly or strikingly than the facts would bear out; set forth in restrained, moderate, or weak terms.
had understated
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past perfectof understate.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
But the contract Musk signed was a tricky devil, and his Hail Mary of choice was to argue that, actually, Twitter had an enormous bot problem that it had understated to him.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2023
Prosecutors had discovered that, between 2012 and 2016, he had understated his income by more than four million dollars, thus avoiding $1.4 million in federal taxes during those five years.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 29, 2019
Earlier in the summer, it was hit with a tax bill for $190bn after government-appointed committees said it was operating illegally and had understated its gold exports.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2017
He made a name at Arthur Andersen with two big accomplishments: He found that client Marriott had understated earnings by 1 cent per share.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 14, 2017
The rector had understated when he declared their deficit.
From The Scarlet Feather by Will Grefé
