underrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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underrates,
present (3rd person singular)
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underrated,
past participle, past
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underrating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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underratesimple
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underratessimple
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have underratedperfect
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has underratedperfect
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am underratingprogressive
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are underratingprogressive
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is underratingprogressive
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have been underratingperfect progressive
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has been underratingperfect progressive
Past
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underratedsimple
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had underratedperfect
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was underratingprogressive
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were underratingprogressive
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had been underratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of underrate
Explanation
To underrate something is to underestimate its value. If critics underrate a great movie, they don't give it enough credit for its brilliant acting and well-written script. If most people underrate the Polish restaurant in your neighborhood, they'll be pleasantly surprised once they give it a try. High school football players tend to underrate the importance of gracefulness in their sport, and your math teacher may underrate the amount of time it takes you to do your calculus homework. The verb underrate has been around since the 1640's, although back then it was generally spelled with a hyphen: under-rate.
Vocabulary lists containing underrate
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:
“I think a lot of people underrate my speed, my explosiveness,’’ he said.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 1, 2024
Colin Farrell is wonderful in “Banshees,” but voters may underrate him when he’s playing a character who looks and talks like, well, Colin Farrell.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023
“It made me realize that we often ignore and underrate highly populated places for ichthyological exploratory studies. We now understand not to leave any stones unturned.”
From Scientific American ● Mar. 25, 2022
Don’t underrate national college football writer media jealousy of me when it comes to their reaction to the Tennessee fan base.
From Fox News ● Oct. 17, 2021
"What are you doing? If he's going to help you, he has to know what you're capable of. Don't underrate yourself," says Peeta.
From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
This prevailing narrative underrates Ms. Sears and her political chemistry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2025
Whenever anybody asks me about Balanchine, I think of what Jack Nicholson said about Stanley Kubrick: “Everyone pretty much acknowledges him as The Man, and I still think that underrates him.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
Peterson finished with 16 yards on 11 carries, a line that obviously doesn’t stand out, but that somewhat underrates his contribution.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2021
"He's pretty tough. I don't think anyone underrates his toughness."
From US News ● Oct. 12, 2015
I cannot but think that in this passage Miss Duffy rather underrates Madame de Staël’s influence on the literature of the nineteenth century.
From Reviews by Oscar Wilde
What “Is This It” and its underrated follow-up, “Room on Fire,” mean to original fans will differ from what they mean to listeners who meet the Strokes through more recent albums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
The Jaguars’ defense is underrated but gave away a lead against the Broncos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
This is a severely underrated album because the songs that aren’t mentioned are just as good.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
For Italian travel expert and writer Alessia Armenise, supermarkets are an underrated gem.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
It was clear that Holly had not underrated their danger near Efrafa.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
I’m not saying criminally underrating someone like Yamamoto should be prosecutable, I’m just wondering why anyone would?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2026
“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
It is possible that we are now underrating the Sooners, who have won four games by one score?
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2021
In public comments this week, Fed officials have suggested that markets are underrating the possibility of a September rate increase.
From New York Times ● Aug. 17, 2016
Be careful, when traveling, not to wound the feelings of your friends in another country or city, by underrating their native place, or attempting to prove the superiority of your own home over theirs.
From The Ladies' Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness A Complete Hand Book for the Use of the Lady in Polite Society by Florence Hartley
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.
