underrate

verb

un·​der·​rate ˌən-dər-ˈrāt How to pronounce underrate (audio)
ˌən-də-
underrated; underrating; underrates

transitive verb

: to rate or value (something or someone) too low : undervalue
His off-the-cuff improvisations, his airy tendency to throw out half-baked ideas, caused others to underrate his continuity of purpose …Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
As I watched the film for the first time …, it seemed to me that its effect was to exploit innocence and violence in ways that overrate the power of the first and underrate the complexity of the second …Vincent Canby
see also underrated

Examples of underrate in a Sentence

She underrated her student's ability. it's perhaps the most underrated film of the last decade
Recent Examples on the Web The study analyzed satellite images to track retreat and found that the breakup of icebergs has accelerated in Greenland and that previous analyses might have underrated its influence. Evan Bush, NBC News, 17 Jan. 2024 Whether critically acclaimed or criminally underrated, each of these shows will engage you enough to leave real life behind, and journey somewhere more imaginative. EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023 Women such as Adele Goldstine, Grace Hopper, Kay McNulty, and Betty Snyder developed early computing languages and debugging methods, becoming some of the nation’s earliest and most adept programmers, underrated as that label (and their work) was at the time. Anna Shechtman, The New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2024 And considering the fact that the park saw just over 140,000 visitors in 2022 — for context, 12.9 million visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park that same year — there’s no denying the park is underrated. Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 26 Jan. 2024 Other data shows that communication is a major business struggle, but it is still being underrated as a primary concern for startup success. Ilia Kiselevich, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023 But fame’s pitfalls, heightened by the eternal internet, also are underrated. Brenda Cronin, WSJ, 29 Oct. 2023 Become a Subscriber The truth is that the album is underrated in its specificity. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2023 Get a Note from Home The power of a note from your parent or guardian is underrated. Talib Babb, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'underrate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1632, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of underrate was in 1632

Dictionary Entries Near underrate

Cite this Entry

“Underrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underrate. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

underrate

verb
un·​der·​rate ˌən-də(r)-ˈrāt How to pronounce underrate (audio)
: to rate too low : undervalue

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