underinvest
Americanverb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
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.
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“We tend to undervalue and I would say underinvest in those unsexy but important capabilities like the oilers, like the auxiliaries, like the tenders. It’s the quiet backbone of American naval power.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
If this kind of theft happened too frequently, companies might underinvest in new technologies—or they might flee states that fail to enforce noncompete contracts.
From Slate ● Oct. 25, 2021
When we underinvest in children, we pay the price for the rest of their lives, through higher spending on remedial education, reactive health care and criminal justice.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2021
“You can’t underinvest and get the same kind of returns,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2021
When we underinvest in our own human capital, when so many Americans are only marginally literate or numerate or suffer from ill health or dependencies, then our entire country suffers.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2020
Major institutional investors remain heavily overinvested in stocks — even at almost unprecedented valuations — and underinvested in safer bonds, according to the latest closely watched survey from BofA Securities.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Join us on a time-travel adventure to the ’90s: If you’ve recently been paralyzed by choice or felt overconnected but underinvested in your friendships, Slate has an antidote for you.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
"We've probably underinvested in the last decade and now we're trying to catch up so there's quite a lot of spending," says Frankie Mayo, an energy analyst from Ember Energy.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
“In the China context, we’re very underinvested in infrastructure and in the AI supply chain,” Joe Tsai, chairman of Chinese internet and AI giant Alibaba, said in June in Paris.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
But it’s also one, she said, that tends to be “put in a drawer” and is chronically underinvested in.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
“Right now, AI companies are underinvesting in safety. A company could undergo an intelligence explosion, or lose control of its systems, without the public ever knowing,” Benton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Even though massive spending on AI infrastructure has some investors worried, Boloor contends "the risk is not overinvesting, but underinvesting" in the transformative technology.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
McKinsey’s recent workplace study found many companies moving faster than their workers can adapt, underinvesting in communication, trust and training.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 18, 2025
“I think the industry is underrating and underinvesting given the scale,” Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman told me the other day during our appearance at a Paley Center for Media event in Menlo Park, Calif.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025
US Vice President JD Vance scolded the Nordic country for underinvesting in the territory's security during his recent trip to an American military base in the far north of Greenland.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2025
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.
