underuse

American  

[uhn-der-yooz, uhn-der-yoos] / ˌʌn dərˈjuz, ˌʌn dərˈjus /

verb (used with object)

underuses, present (3rd person singular) underused, past, past participle underusing present participle

1. to use (a resource, someone's talent, etc.) too little or without realizing its full potential.

---

noun

1. the act or fact of using something too little or without realizing its full potential.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• underusing
  present
• underused
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• underuse
  simple
• underuses
  simple
• have underused
  perfect
• has underused
  perfect
• am underusing
  progressive
• are underusing
  progressive
• is underusing
  progressive
• have been underusing
  perfect progressive
• has been underusing
  perfect progressive

Past

• underused
  simple
• had underused
  perfect
• was underusing
  progressive
• were underusing
  progressive
• had been underusing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will underuse
  simple
• will have underused
  perfect
• will be underusing
  progressive
• will have been underusing
  perfect progressive

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

underuse underuses underused underusing

After years of underuse, patients are coming back with more surgeries and outpatient procedures, pressuring insurer’s earnings.

From Barron's ● Dec. 19, 2025

Managing the expectations of new users and explaining the logistics of the adjustment period can help preempt the early rejections and persistent underuse of hearing aids.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024

Because of the underuse of medications to help treat or prevent menstrual migraines, investigators wanted to understand how common menstrual migraines were and which groups of women could most benefit from potential therapies.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 12, 2024

Last month, the California Department of Public Health issued an advisory to physicians and other healthcare providers, lamenting the underuse of such medications despite an “ample supply.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2024

Experts have increasingly pointed to another explanation for Paxlovid’s underuse: Doctors still resist prescribing it.

From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2023

It misuses Holm's talents, underuses Cleese's and doesn't use Connery at all�there's no way to turn him into a figure of antic misanthropy.

From Time Magazine Archive

That means meat processors will likely remain caught between high livestock costs, low cattle supplies, and underused plants.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

Raymond Lee is underused as a friendly, flirty soccer dad.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

The HSA is one of the most underused accounts in American finance, and most people with one are leaving money on the table.

From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026

Historic England ran a four-year programme to repurpose derelict and underused buildings as community spaces such as cinemas and market halls, and run cultural events, while in Walsall a £1.5bn regeneration project is planned.

From BBC ● May 2, 2026

These foreign holdings or “cleruchies” not only put underused land back into taxable cultivation, but also afforded the king what was essentially a countrywide system of garrisons.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

For example, California’s Imperial Irrigation District has been underusing its allotment in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2021

It’s delicious, except that Swift commits the capital offence of underusing the Haim sisters purely as background singers, aside from one spoken interjection from Danielle.

From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2020