understate
About 0.30 uses per million words.
Meaning
- verb 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.
- verb 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.
- verb To state a quantity that is too low.
The company had been understating its liabilities for years.
Similar words
minimize undervalue underrate underestimate downplay belittle lower overestimate overstate overlook
Often followed by
the their it or its his actual true rather
Word family
understated understates understating
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