understaffed

American  

[uhn-der-staft, -stahft] / ˌʌn dərˈstæft, -ˈstɑft /

adjective

1. having an insufficient number of personnel.

   The hospital is understaffed.

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understaffed British  

/ ˌʌndəˈstɑːft /

adjective

1. not having enough staff

   her department is understaffed

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Etymology

Origin of understaffed

First recorded in 1890–95; under- + staff ¹ + -ed ³

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Explanation

When a business doesn't have quite enough employees, it is understaffed. Be patient with your server if the restaurant is understaffed — they're probably doing the work of several people! Your lemonade stand is understaffed if there aren't enough workers to squeeze lemons, fill cups, and give customers change. And a school is understaffed if teachers are out sick and no substitutes are available to fill in. The word comes from the verb staff, "to provide with a staff of assistants," and the earlier noun, which meant "group of military officers" prior to "group of workers."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

understaffed

For example, if people are uploading company materials into AI to create reports, violating data-privacy rules, it could be because they are understaffed and won’t get through their workload without doing so.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

“Mental Health is understaffed, burned out,” wrote one New York-based staffer who was leaving.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

New recruits have yet to offset retirements, and courts across the state remain critically understaffed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Many clinics remain understaffed, and vets are switching to lower-cost generic prescriptions, the analysts found.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

Even in a remote, understaffed, and underequipped hospital, if he did his best, a simple country doctor could improve the quality of life in Haiti.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

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