understatement

American  

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

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.

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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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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

Initial data showed 25 Foundayo prescriptions, but analysts believe this is an understatement.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

If anything, after a few days spent dipping my T. rex hands into the cool primordial sludge of the dinosaur fandom, Panella’s sentiment feels like an understatement.

From Salon • Apr. 12, 2026

To describe Italy's qualifying campaign as anything other than eventful would be quite the understatement.

From BBC • Mar. 25, 2026

Prodigious is an understatement for the display, which was curated by the museum’s Massimiliano Gioni, Gary Carrion-Murayari, Vivian Crockett and Madeline Weisburg with Calvin Wang.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

The understatement of the year, was a phrase my mother uses.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood