underfunded
Britishadjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That meant relying on NJ Transit, the chronically underfunded public-transportation system, to shuttle huge numbers of fans to and from the matches.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
Am I overfunded for retirement and underfunded for the next five years?
From MarketWatch • May 15, 2026
Because the program is 25% underfunded, Americans will either need to pay more or receive less than currently scheduled.
From Barron's • May 8, 2026
For almost 20 years, NI Water has been protected from the severest pollution fines because of a special arrangement that acknowledges its outdated and underfunded infrastructure.
From BBC • Mar. 21, 2026
As described by William Julius Wilson in his book When Work Disappears, the overwhelming majority of African Americans in the 1970s lacked college educations and had attended racially segregated, underfunded schools lacking basic resources.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
