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underwhelming

 - 4 dictionary results

un⋅der⋅whelm

  [uhn-der-hwelm, -welm]
Use underwhelming in a Sentence
–verb (used with object) Informal.
to fail to interest or astonish: After all the ballyhoo, most critics were underwhelmed by the movie.
Origin:
1945–50; under- + (over)whelm
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To underwhelming
un·der·whelm   (ŭn'dər-hwělm', -wělm')   
tr.v.   un·der·whelmed, un·der·whelm·ing, un·der·whelms
To fail to excite, stimulate, or impress: "He is just as entitled to be underwhelmed by the prospect of reigning over a fourth-class nation as the rest of us are by the prospect of living in it" (Peter Jay).

[under- + (over)whelm.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
underwhelm

  1. tv. & in.
    to fail to impress (someone). : As we were being under whelmed by a buxom soprano, my thoughts drifted to more pleasant matters.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

underwhelm 
1956, a facetious play on overwhelm.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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