To present something as less important, extensive, severe or significant than it is.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- understate a risk
- understate the extent
On the page
The summary understated the risk by omitting the conditions under which it had increased.
The initial account understated the extent of the delay.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- understate
- Past tense
- understated
- Past participle
- understated
- Present participle
- understating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- understate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are understating
- Present perfect
- have/has understated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been understating
- Past
- understated
- Past continuous
- was/were understating
- Past perfect
- had understated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been understating
- Future
- will understate
- Future continuous
- will be understating
- Future perfect
- will have understated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been understating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: understate; understates; understated; understated; understating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: style analysis, interpretation, characterization, rhetorical contrast. Disciplines: literary analysis, prose writing, advanced general English. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: understates.
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