MEANING
Leaving out cases or people that should be included for the purpose being considered.
Use it for
saying that a definition is too narrow; showing relevant cases being wrongly excluded; evaluating whether a rule covers the people it should; distinguishing a justified restriction from an omission that defeats the stated purposeIdentifies a definition, classification or rule that leaves out relevant cases relative to its purpose. Writing functions: Significance / Scope.
Words that belong together
- an underinclusive definition
- an underinclusive classification
- an underinclusive policy
On the page
Defining participation only as voting is underinclusive if the study also intends to cover protest and campaign work.
The assistance policy was underinclusive because it excluded people facing the same barriers as those it covered.
Word forms
- Base
- underinclusive
Usage notes
Adjective; more/most underinclusive are natural when comparing degree. Do not invent underinclusiver or underinclusivest. Also under-inclusive; one canonical entry. Register: formal. Commonness: uncommon outside legal, policy and analytical writing (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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