underfunded
Britishadjective
Explanation
Anything that's underfunded doesn't have enough money. An underfunded college student can't afford textbooks — or pizza. When a group or organization is funded, it's provided with the money, or funds it needs to function properly. Being underfunded means having an insufficient amount of cash on hand. An underfunded school doesn't have enough money to pay its staff and teachers, and it might have to eliminate art and music classes. If your lemonade stand is underfunded and you can't afford cups, it's unlikely to be a successful business!
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.
The social care system - which is mostly provided by companies rather than directly by the state - is widely perceived as underfunded and unfair.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The later market crash and 2008-09 financial panic left state pension funds severely underfunded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
The international community has raised $1.5 billion to support the response in the DRC, whose healthcare system is chronically underfunded.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
She understands that while hospitals may be underfunded, the administration is often quite well-funded.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
As described by William Julius Wilson in his book When Work Disappears, the overwhelming majority of African Americans in the 1970s lacked college educations and had attended racially segregated, underfunded schools lacking basic resources.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
