undermined

American  

[uhn-der-mahynd, uhn-der-mahynd] / ˌʌn dərˈmaɪnd, ˈʌn dərˌmaɪnd /

adjective

1. attacked, weakened, or defeated by underhand or seemingly harmless actions or by imperceptible stages.

   Both the struggling students and the most gifted ones are receiving limited support from an undermined educational system.

2. weakened or made to collapse by removing underlying support, as by eroding or digging away the foundation.

   With the release of material from the undermined cliffs at these sites, we should have had far more sand to feed the beaches, not less.

3. deliberately weakened by an excavation or tunnel dug underneath, as by an enemy in war.

   When the town was besieged, its defenders abandoned the undermined walls and retired into the citadel.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of undermine.

Etymology

Origin of undermined

undermine ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The idea is to end some importers’ preferential dollar-exchange rate—which had fed arbitrage and corruption and undermined the rial—and replace it with direct consumer subsidies.

From The Wall Street Journal

Moreover, the tools that America helped build to tackle shared global threats, like international law and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, have been disparaged and undermined.

From Salon

It is hard to see how any head coach is forced into a backroom shuffle without feeling undermined.

From BBC

More than three decades of careful planning to build regional proxy forces, sanction-evasion mechanisms, and nuclear infrastructure have been undermined or destroyed in a relatively short period of time.

From BBC

The members then went public with their grievances, alleging the company had deliberately undermined their careers.

From Barron's

Related Words

• flawed