7 results for: understatement

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

un·der·state

Audio Help [uhn-der-steyt] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object), -stat·ed, -stat·ing.

to state or represent less strongly or strikingly than the facts would bear out; set forth in restrained, moderate, or weak terms: The casualty lists understate the extent of the disaster.

[Origin: 1815–25; under- + state

]

—Related forms

un·der·state·ment

Audio Help [uhn-der-steyt-muh

nt, uhn-der-steyt-] Pronunciation Key noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
understatement

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

un·der·state·ment Audio Help (ŭn'dər-stāt'mənt, ŭn'dər-stāt'-) Pronunciation Key
n.

A disclosure or statement that is less than complete.
Restraint or lack of emphasis in expression, as for rhetorical effect.
Restraint in artistic expression.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
understatement

1799, from under + statement. Understated, with ref. to clothing, is recorded from 1957.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

understatement
noun
a statement that is restrained in ironic contrast to what might have been said [ant: exaggeration]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ˌunderˈstatement noun

Example: It's an understatement to say he's foolish — he's quite mad.

Arabic:	تَصْريح مُقَلَّل
Chinese (Simplified):	陈述
Chinese (Traditional):	陳述
Czech:	slabé označení
Danish:	underdrivelse
Dutch:	understatement
Estonian:	vähendamine, alahindamine
Finnish:	vähätelmä, vähättelevä ilmaus
French:	affirmation en dessous de la vérité
German:	die Untertreibung
Greek:	μετριασμένη παρουσίαση της πραγματικότητας
Hungarian:	ez kevesebbet mond a valóságnál, szépítő körülmény
Icelandic:	úrdráttur

Italian:	(dichiarazione incompleta)
Japanese:	控え目の表現
Latvian:	nepietiekams novērtējums; atturīgs izteikums
Lithuanian:	švelnus pasakymas
Norwegian:	underdrivelse; undervurdering
Polish:	niedopowiedzenie
Portuguese (Portugal):	meia verdade
Russian:	преуменьшение
Slovak:	nedocenenie, zľahčenie, málo
Slovenian:	nezadostna navedba
Spanish:	atenuación; subestimación
Swedish:	underdrift, understatement
Turkish:	olduğundan daha hafif gösterme