understate

[ uhn-der-steyt ]

/ ˌʌn dərˈsteɪt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR understate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), un·der·stat·ed, un·der·stat·ing.

to state or represent less strongly or strikingly than the facts would bear out; set forth in restrained, moderate, or weak terms: The casualty lists understate the extent of the disaster.

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Origin of understate

First recorded in 1815–25; under- + state

OTHER WORDS FROM understate

un·der·state·ment

[uhn-der-steyt-muh nt, uhn-der-steyt-] /ˌʌn dərˈsteɪt mənt, ˈʌn dərˌsteɪt-/, noun

Words nearby understate

underspin, understaffed, understand, understandable, understanding, understate, understated, understatement, understeer, understock, understood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for understate

I don't want to understate either, however; these are the major chronic diseases we should be expecting Medicaid to help.
Study: Giving People Government Health Insurance May Not Make them Any Healthier|Megan McArdle|May 1, 2013|DAILY BEAST
To say she was disturbed by the results would be to understate her reaction.
Hitler’s Strange Afterlife in India|Dilip D’Souza|November 30, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Yet such tempered remarks may understate the significance of the challenge awaiting Krueger.
Washington’s New Punching Bag|Daniel Stone|August 29, 2011|DAILY BEAST
I do not understate the complexity and sensitivity of achieving such a global agreement.
The Crisis We Forgot|Tony Blair|March 3, 2009|DAILY BEAST

The afternoon press of New York is not apt to understate the facts of a given case.
The Spenders|Harry Leon Wilson
To say that the story moves is vastly to understate its headlong rapidity of action.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, May 10, 1916|Various
Whether these figures overstate or understate the truth, the school authorities of the country should find out.
Civics and Health|William H. Allen
That is the due of boys who overstate, and men who understate, their age in order to serve their country in the field.
Mr. Punch's History of the Great War|Punch
There is, of course, no call to understate the importance of material goods or of manual labor.
The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays|Thorstein Veblen

British Dictionary definitions for understate

understate

/ (ˌʌndəˈsteɪt) /

verb

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

understate

verb (used with object), un·der·stat·ed, un·der·stat·ing.

QUIZZES

CAN YOU ACE THIS QUIZ ABOUT “COMPLIMENT” VS. “COMPLEMENT”?

Origin of understate

OTHER WORDS FROM understate

Words nearby understate

Words related to understate

Example sentences from the Web for understate

British Dictionary definitions for understate

verb