underestimate
/ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.69 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
5
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
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.
Transitive verb
verb
To perceive or expect (someone or something) to be less significant or difficult than it actually is.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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 something important as well."
- "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."
- "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."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English estimate English underestimate From under- + estimate.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/