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]

un·der·state·ment    Audio Help   [uhn-der-steyt-muhnt, 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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© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·state·ment    Audio Help   (ŭn'dər-stāt'mənt, ŭn'dər-stāt'-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A disclosure or statement that is less than complete.
  2. Restraint or lack of emphasis in expression, as for rhetorical effect.
  3. 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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
understatement

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

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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
See also: understate

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
understatement

A form of irony in which something is intentionally represented as less than it is: “Hank Aaron was a pretty good ball player.”


[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English


The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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