Word.ws English Dictionary

underspecification

underspecification noun: inadequate specification; failure to specify in enough detail.

Noun

underspecification (countable and uncountable, plural underspecifications)

  1. Inadequate specification; failure to specify in enough detail.
    • The underspecification of the project led to the development of software that was not fit for purpose.
  2. A phenomenon in which certain features are omitted in underlying representations.

Forms of underspecification

pluralunderspecifications

Origin of underspecification

From under- + specification.

Questions about underspecification

What does underspecification mean?
Underspecification means inadequate specification; failure to specify in enough detail.
What part of speech is underspecification?
Underspecification is a noun.
What is the plural of underspecification?
The plural of underspecification is underspecifications.

Words near underspecification in the dictionary

  1. underspeak
  2. underspeaking
  3. underspeaks
  4. underspecies
  5. underspecific
  6. underspecification
  7. underspecifications
  8. underspecificity
  9. underspecified
  10. underspecifies
  11. underspecify

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: underspecification (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-underspecification.wav.

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