understate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
understates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
understated,
past participle, past
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understating
present participle
verb
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to state (something) in restrained terms, often to obtain an ironic effect
-
to state that (something, such as a number) is less than it is
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
understatesimple
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understatessimple
-
have understatedperfect
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has understatedperfect
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am understatingprogressive
-
are understatingprogressive
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is understatingprogressive
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have been understatingperfect progressive
-
has been understatingperfect progressive
Past
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understatedsimple
-
had understatedperfect
-
was understatingprogressive
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were understatingprogressive
-
had been understatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of understate
Explanation
One way to think about the verb understate is as the opposite of "exaggerate." If you want to make something seem smaller or less important than it really is, you're likely to understate it. If you don't want your grandmother to worry about you, you might be tempted to understate, or downplay, the trouble you've had finding a new job. Business owners might understate their financial problems when they're applying for a bank loan, and a new student might understate her experience speaking French so as not to embarrass her inept French teacher.
Vocabulary lists containing understate
Black Boy
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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:
“We can’t understate the importance of getting the airport done,” Tanner told the officials at City Hall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Separately, the new chair of the OBR Jonathan Haskel is known for his argument that official statistics understate investment in intangibles like software and data.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
But if they are broadening into something more persistent, the trimmed mean will understate inflation, possibly by a lot.
From Barron's ● May 11, 2026
In that sense, these adjustments may understate the effect of maintaining a given standard of consumption.
From Slate ● Apr. 24, 2026
Francis saw no reason to understate the power of the helical theory and within several minutes revealed the way Bessel functions gave neat answers.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Some economists said the Fed’s prevailing view understates the risk of waiting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Even that striking number vastly understates the U.S. and allied dependency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
And that understates the savings, because it also would have cut the $9 trillion in net interest the government has to pay on the national debt over that period.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 16, 2026
“This understates the costliness to U.S. households though, because tariffs also allow non-importing firms to raise their prices if they’re competing with imports,” Bivens said.
From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2026
The Gazette describes the Richmond somewhat incorrectly as a schooner, and likewise understates the tonnage.
From Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding
Some analysts say so-called “quiet luxury” — the understated but expensive styles found on TV shows like “Succession” — is on its way out, as shoppers turn to more ostentatious pieces.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Those numbers are likely understated: Many holdings were listed with a range of values, or simply as “over $50,000,000,” as is customary for government financial disclosures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Harryhausen’s influence on later filmmakers, from George Lucas to Tim Burton and on through Wes Anderson, can’t be understated.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
The small change went a long way for buyers with smaller wrists, or who were looking to get something more understated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Everything looked the same, but more still: the Weekday Warriors still sat on the benches outside the library, but their gossip was quiet, understated.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
Short seller Muddy Waters Research accused SoFi of understating debt and intentionally diluting shareholders in a March report—claims SoFi called “factually inaccurate and misleading.”
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
David Protein stayed mostly quiet at first after a lawsuit accused it of understating its bars’ calories and fat content in January.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
U.S. accounting rules for intangible assets have been subject to criticism for potentially understating their true value or sometimes excluding some internally developed assets entirely.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
Between them, there’s a common understating of the elements within the frame, as well as a mutual concern for crafting images where any stylistic choice is secondary to the substance of what they communicate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2024
In a tone that suggested she was understating things greatly, she told Dill that he’d be able to buy a few textbooks with the royalties.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
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.
