underfunded

British  

/ ˌʌndəˈfʌndɪd /

adjective

1. having or provided with insufficient funding

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Explanation

Anything that's underfunded doesn't have enough money. An underfunded college student can't afford textbooks — or pizza. When a group or organization is funded, it's provided with the money, or funds it needs to function properly. Being underfunded means having an insufficient amount of cash on hand. An underfunded school doesn't have enough money to pay its staff and teachers, and it might have to eliminate art and music classes. If your lemonade stand is underfunded and you can't afford cups, it's unlikely to be a successful business!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

underfunded

As she played a game of telephone with the clinics, Vanessa ran into a complexity inherent to contraceptive research and development, itself a direly underfunded field.

From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026

The Fire Department already has a budget nearing $1 billion and the tax is expected to generate another $345 million annually to the department that has long said it is woefully underfunded.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

The United Nations' top official for refugees warned on Friday that conditions for long-displaced people in Western Sahara were getting worse and that their humanitarian needs were starkly underfunded.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

A 2025 UN report said that police stations were often underfunded and not fully operational, citing independent sources that accused officers of lacking skills in hostage negotiation and forensic investigation.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The museum was a dusty, moldy, underfunded, neglected mess.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

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