How to use understatement in a sentence

17 example sentences · noun

Understatement means a figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through phrasing or lack of emphasis, often for ironic effect. Example: “Now that's an understatement.”

Examples of understatement by meaning

nounA figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through...

A master of understatement
Victorian English was all about understatement.2004, Rowan Manahan, Where's My Oasis?:, page 158

nounAn instance of such phrasing or lack of emphasis; an incomplete statement.

Now that's an understatement.

More sentences with understatement

She is the queen of understatement: she understated her critique masterfully.From the entry understate
To call him a flaming homosexual would be an understatement, but I think he acts that way just to see people react.From the entry flaming
To say that Midorima turned a billion shades of red would be an understatement.2015 August, "nonochuu" (username), Tumblr (blog). From the entry turn a number of shades of red
To say he went on a tear after turning professional would be an understatement.2014 November 7, Dan Hardy, “Michael Bisping analysis”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 28 Aug 2015. From the entry on a tear
To say the Pittsburgh Penguins are a top-heavy club is an understatement. . . .2011 April 12, Kent Wilson, “Sidney Crosby's historic season”, in ESPN.com, retrieved 05 Mar 2014. From the entry carry the mail
Exsqueeze me, but saying I don't have much to go on is a ridiculous understatement.1999, John Farrow, City of Ice. From the entry exsqueeze me
To say that Cavendish’s distaste for hype and self-promotion extended to his personal life would be an understatement.2015, Steve Silberman, chapter 1, in Megan Newman, editor, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity, New York…. From the entry taciturn
It's officially The Summer I Turned Pretty szn, and to say we're excited about the second installment of the hit show is a serious understatement.2023 July 15, Gretty Garcia, “All the Deets on How Old the Cast of ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Is on the Show and IRL”, in Cosmopolitan. From the entry szn
And that is a real understatement!2003, Robert J. Evans, Chris Dulabone, Abducted to Oz. From the entry show-off
No queen in Drag Race history had ever won with no challenge wins before Elecktra, so to say it was a gag would be an understatement.2024 February 20, Dylan Kickham, These Are The 23 Most Controversial Eliminations In 'Drag Race' Herstory. From the entry gag
U2 have never been a band noted for their love of shy understatement, but even by their standards, their arrival in Las Vegas represents a hitherto-unimagined degree of grandiosity.2023 September 30, Alexis Petridis, “U2 review – an utterly astonishing, admirably raw Vegas extravaganza”, in The Guardian, London. From the entry grandiosity
To say Cuban train toilets leave something to be desired would not just be an understatement, it would suggest the person speaking inhabited an altogether alien reality.2013, Slow train to Guantanamo : a rail odyssey through Cuba in the last days of the Castros, page 125. From the entry leave something to be desired
In a lapidary style, Qiu Dongping clearly and forcefully describes battlefield actions with simple sentences, giving a blow-by-blow account of successive events with neither understatement nor exaggeration.2000, Yunzhong Shu, chapter 2, in Buglers on the Home Front: The Wartime Practice of the Qiyue School, State University of New York Press…. From the entry account
Well, I haven't had any real problems with it, it's not the most reliable ISP I've ever used (mahoosive understatement), but considering it's free it's not too bad.2000 March 27, Laurence Bogle, “Re: DF”, in alt.fab.robert-jordan (Usenet). From the entry mahoosive

Meaning of understatement

noun A figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through phrasing or lack of emphasis, often for ironic effect.
noun An instance of such phrasing or lack of emphasis; an incomplete statement.
noun An incomplete disclosure that intentionally withholds relevant information.

Full definition of understatement

Questions about understatement in a sentence

How do you use understatement in a sentence?: Understatement is used as a noun. For example: “Now that's an understatement.”
What is a short sentence with understatement?: “A master of understatement”
What does understatement mean?: Understatement means a figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through phrasing or lack of emphasis, often for ironic effect.

Adapted from Wiktionary: understatement (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use understatement in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/understatement. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.