understate
verb /ˌʌndəˈsteɪt/
/ˌʌndərˈsteɪt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they understate | /ˌʌndəˈsteɪt/ /ˌʌndərˈsteɪt/ |
| he / she / it understates | /ˌʌndəˈsteɪts/ /ˌʌndərˈsteɪts/ |
| past simple understated | /ˌʌndəˈsteɪtɪd/ /ˌʌndərˈsteɪtɪd/ |
| past participle understated | /ˌʌndəˈsteɪtɪd/ /ˌʌndərˈsteɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form understating | /ˌʌndəˈsteɪtɪŋ/ /ˌʌndərˈsteɪtɪŋ/ |
- understate something to state that something is smaller, less important or less serious than it really is
- It would be a mistake to understate the seriousness of the problem.
- The figures probably understate the real unemployment rate.
- To say that the reviews were mixed is to understate the case—the cons far outweighed the pros.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryUnderstate is used with these nouns as the object:- case
- extent