underestimate
US/ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/
underestimate verb: to estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has.
Verb
underestimate (third-person singular simple present underestimates, present participle underestimating, simple past and past participle underestimated)
- To estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has.
- It recalls the business case for Scotland's reopening of the Borders Railway to Tweedbank, that British Rail closed in 1969. The review says the business case for this was at best borderline, but goes on to say that the case greatly underestimated passenger demand and that the railway Scotland...2023 September 6, Philip Haigh, “£30 billion plan to transform the rail network in Ireland”, in RAIL, number 991, page 25
- Synonyms:
- misjudge, misunderestimate, sell short, underapproximate
- Antonyms:
- overapproximate, overestimate, overhold, overrate, overreckon, overstate, overthink
- To perceive or expect (someone or something) to be less significant or difficult than it actually is.
- I totally underestimated the task.
- My point, therefore, in beginning with what everyone knows are the two main views of Othello (and hence Othello) is not to adjudicate between them, nor to dismiss both, nor to fence-sit, but to suggest that each answers to something important in the play – which also means that each underestimates...1980, Jane Adamson, Othello As Tragedy: Some Problems of Judgement and Feeling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 12
- Synonyms:
- belittle, make light of, bagatellize, banalize, cut down, de-emphasize, denigrate, degrade, deprecate, derogate
- Antonyms:
- overdo, big up, cut it fat, exaggerate, hyperbolize, overcharge, overemphasize, overstate, play up, stretch
Noun
US/ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.mɪt/
underestimate (plural underestimates)
- An estimate that is too low.
- Synonyms:
- underestimation
underestimate meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Telugu and Malayalam
underestimate in Tamil
- குறைத்து மதிப்பிடு, குறைத்து மதிப்பீடு, குறைந்த மதிப்பீடு, சிறுமைப் படுத்தல்
underestimate in Urdu
- ہیچ سمجھنا, کم اہمیت دینا, تھوڑا سمجھنا
underestimate in Telugu
- to perceive as having lower value
- తక్కువ అంచనా వేయు takkuva añcanā vēyu
underestimate in Malayalam
- undervalue, underrate, do an injustice to
- താഴ്ത്തിപ്പറയുക, വില കുറച്ചുകാണുക, ന്യൂനനിർണ്ണയനം നടത്തുക, വിലകുറച്ചുനിരൂപിക്കുക, വില കുറച്ചുമതിക്കുക, ന്യൂനമൂല്യം കല്പിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- underestimate in Kannada
- ಕಡಿಮೆ ಬೆಲೆಕಟ್ಟು
- underestimate in Tagalog
- maliitin
- underestimate in Arabic
- اِسْتَخَفَّ istaḵaffa, اِسْتَهَانَ istahāna
- underestimate in Indonesian
- meremehkan, pandang rendah
- underestimate in Thai
- ดูถูกดูแคลน duu tùuk duu klæn
Examples of underestimate in a sentence
- The review says the business case for this was at best borderline, but goes on to say that the case greatly underestimated passenger demand and that the railway Scotland built has capped its capacity.2023 September 6, Philip Haigh, “£30 billion plan to transform the rail network in Ireland”, in RAIL, number 991, page 25:
- We cannot underestimate the gustatorial importance of the potato side dish.1985 April 27, Sue Hyde, “Sunday Brunch with a Harbor View”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
Synonyms of underestimate
- misjudge
- misunderestimate
- sell short
- underapproximate
- belittle
- make light of
- bagatellize
- banalize
- cut down
- de-emphasize
23 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
- overapproximate
- overestimate
- overhold
- overrate
- overreckon
- overstate
- overdo
- big up
- exaggerate
- overemphasize
7 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of underestimate
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | underestimates |
| present participle | underestimating |
| past participle | underestimated |
| past | underestimated |
| Noun | |
| plural | underestimates |
Origin of underestimate
From under- + estimate.
Words formed from underestimate
Questions about underestimate
- What does underestimate mean?
- Underestimate means to estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has.
- What is underestimate in Tamil?
- Underestimate in Tamil is குறைத்து மதிப்பிடு, குறைத்து மதிப்பீடு, குறைந்த மதிப்பீடு. See Underestimate meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use underestimate in a sentence?
- The review says the business case for this was at best borderline, but goes on to say that the case greatly underestimated passenger demand and that the railway Scotland built has capped its capacity.
- What part of speech is underestimate?
- Underestimate can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce underestimate?
- Underestimate is pronounced /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/ (US).
- What is the past tense of underestimate?
- The past tense of underestimate is underestimated.
Words near underestimate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: underestimate (page history and authors); underestimate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); underestimate (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); underestimate (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); underestimate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-underestimate.wav.
Cite this entry: “underestimate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/underestimate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.