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underestimate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

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Etymology

From under- +‎ estimate.

Pronunciation

Verb

underestimate (third-person singular simple present underestimates, present participle underestimating, simple past and past participle underestimated)

  1. (transitive) To estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has.
    • 2023 September 6, Philip Haigh, “£30 billion plan to transform the rail network in Ireland”, in RAIL, number 991, page 25:
      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 built has capped its capacity.
  2. (transitive) To perceive or expect (someone or something) to be less significant or difficult than it actually is.
    I totally underestimated the task.
    • 1980, Jane Adamson, Othello As Tragedy: Some Problems of Judgement and Feeling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 12:
      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 something important as well.
    • 1985 April 27, Sue Hyde, “Sunday Brunch with a Harbor View”, in Gay Community News, page 8:
      Both egg dishes were accompanied by roasted baby red potatoes and fresh, baked-on-the-premises orange spice muffins with a pot of whipped butter. We cannot underestimate the gustatorial importance of the potato side dish.
    • 2022 December 3, Jessica Grose, “We’re Spending More Time Alone. Maybe It’s Because We’re Exhausted.”, in The New York Times‎:
      I was alone when I read Ward’s piece, horizontal in bed after a long day, and it occurred to me that he might be misdiagnosing some of the reasons people appear to be spending more time alone, possibly underestimating the strength of virtual connections.

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • (antonym(s) of “to perceive as having lower value”): overestimate

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

underestimate (plural underestimates)

  1. An estimate that is too low.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

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