understate

verb
/ʌndəˈsteɪt/

Etymology

From under- + state.

  1. derived from stātus
  2. derived from estat
  3. inherited from stat
  4. prefixed as understate — “under + state

Definitions

  1. To state (something) with less completeness than needed

    To state (something) with less completeness than needed; to minimise or downplay.

    • To call this decision a calculated bet understates the risk; it is a Hail Mary pass.
  2. To state (something) with an intentional lack of emphasis, in order to express irony.

    • She is the queen of understatement: she understated her critique masterfully.
  3. To state a quantity that is too low.

    • The company had been understating its liabilities for years.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for understate. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA