Showing results for "underwhelming"

• present participle of underwhelm.

underwhelming

British  

/ ˌʌndəˈwɛlmɪŋ /

adjective

1. failing to make a positive impact or impression; disappointing

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Explanation

Something that's underwhelming doesn't live up to your expectations. If your favorite soccer team doesn't play very well this year, you might say they're having an underwhelming season. An underwhelming grade on your math test is a big disappointment, and an underwhelming movie by your favorite director isn't nearly as good as her last one. Anything underwhelming is a big letdown or major disappointment. Underwhelming and underwhelm are much more recent additions to the English language than the 14th-century overwhelm, on which they were modeled. Originally used in the 1800s, underwhelming was a humorous slang term well into the 20th century.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

underwhelming

The five years of the Netflix deal yielded five shows, including the six-part series Harry & Meghan and two series of the lifestyle show With Love, Meghan, drawing underwhelming streaming numbers.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

However, the reason the fee has gone down is the underwhelming form he showed for Brighton last season.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Disorganized and under-publicized, the event was underwhelming, Hardin said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Last year, the Tigers fired Brian Kelly after a run of underwhelming seasons, which had seen the Tigers post winning records but fall well short of the playoffs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Does she really want to hear about her daughter’s deeply underwhelming and unhappy existence in school?

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day