undergo
Americanverb (used with object)
-
undergoes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
underwent,
past
-
undergone,
past participle
-
undergoing
present participle
verb
Usage
What is another way to say undergo? To undergo something is to be subjected to or to endure that thing. How does undergo differ from experience? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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undergosimple
-
undergoessimple
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have undergoneperfect
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has undergoneperfect
-
am undergoingprogressive
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are undergoingprogressive
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is undergoingprogressive
-
have been undergoingperfect progressive
-
has been undergoingperfect progressive
Past
-
underwentsimple
-
had undergoneperfect
-
was undergoingprogressive
-
were undergoingprogressive
-
had been undergoingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of undergo
First recorded before 1000; Middle English undergon, Old English undergān. See under-, go 1
Explanation
Undergo means "endure until something is complete." You might undergo testing to check your hearing or undergo special training if you want to volunteer at a homeless shelter. The verb undergo means "experience" or "undertake." It is often used to describe medical procedures, such as, an injured quarterback who will undergo shoulder surgery. The word implies that it is something that has to happen so that a positive change occurs, like healing in the case of the quarterback or greater communication skills for a hot-tempered person who undergoes anger management training.
Vocabulary lists containing undergo
Word Generation Weekly - Series 3
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The Red Umbrella
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“On Civil Disobedience” by Mohandas K. Gandhi
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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:
The Grade II listed arts venue is to undergo a £231m overhaul, including the development of a climate-controlled habitat to support plant health.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
When materials undergo these phase changes, important physical properties can change as well, including density and refractive index, which affect how sound and light travel through them.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
The same logic dictates the "forced march" the hopefuls must undergo -- the final exercise required to earn the paratrooper's beret.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Police assigned to airports must also undergo training on “constitutional limits regarding police encounters at airports.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
For instance, although she continued to discharge her professional duties with all her usual diligence, her general mood tended to undergo swings of a sort I had hitherto never witnessed.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Ezri Konsa's imminent £51m departure to Arsenal is the latest high-profile exit at Villa Park this summer as Unai Emery's squad undergoes drastic change.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The Catholic church is deeply entrenched in Poland's national identity and the Virgin Mary is considered the country's patron and protector, even as it undergoes one of the fastest rates of secularisation worldwide.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Surgeons say that aortic dissections are sometimes identified by accident when a patient undergoes a CT scan or X-ray for routine reasons or other conditions.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Observing the Poisson spot provided convincing evidence that light undergoes diffraction, meaning it bends and spreads as it passes around objects or through small openings.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
Then August’s face undergoes another transformation, melding into something close to complacency.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Díaz said he underwent an MRI scan on his neck and nothing unusual was revealed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
The 27-year-old Russian-Australian citizen underwent "military-style" training in Russia and later joined the Ukrainian armed forces, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett told a news conference.
From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026
He underwent a number of procedures and operations before being discharged on 1 February.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tarik Skubal underwent the procedure as a college freshman and Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet had it in 2022.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
First, it seemed that all normal cells growing in culture eventually died or underwent spontaneous transformation and became cancerous.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Chipotle has undergone a similar shift, now offering a “high protein menu,” with some bowls made in collaboration with major athletes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
He added that the patient should have undergone daily blood tests but that there was no evidence of any blood being taken during his two weeks of home convalescence.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
The tour comes after a rare period of rest and relaxation for Usher, who recently revealed to Architectural Digest that he had undergone surgery on his knee earlier this year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
In July 2025, Derry told the BBC he was living with a cancerous brain tumour and had undergone surgery to remove some of it.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
It was true that he had never fully lost himself in another person to such an extent as to forget himself; he had never undergone the follies of love for another person.
From "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse
A global symbol of parties and celebrations but an environmental headache, the humble balloon is undergoing a green revolution thanks to UK researchers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026
The Hiroshima University team set out to determine whether oral health was also associated with how long patients survived after undergoing resection, the surgical removal of all or part of an organ, for PDAC.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026
“Los Angeles County’s film and television economy is already undergoing a significant structural contraction,” the report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
They include Milly Main, who died at the age of 10 after contracting the stenotrophomonas bacteria while undergoing treatment for leukaemia.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Lister worried about the high number of hospital patients who died after undergoing surgeries such as leg amputations or repair of deep knife gashes.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
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.
