Underburden
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The rock and subsoil that lies below a mineral deposit such as a coal seam. countable, uncountable
"Much of the heat introduced with the steam is lost to the overburden and to the underburden by thermal conduction in the manner discussed earlier."
- 1 To give too light a burden; to assign less than a fair share.
"In reality, the levels of work varied: some internationals seemed overburdened with tasks and responsibility, some seemed underburdened, and some faced apparently just the right amount of work."
- 2 To assign less work than someone or something is capable of.
"If a man is overburdened, which is the true cause of complaint, or underburdened, which is the modern cause of complaint, he may seek redress; but he alone who is overburdened or underburdened is authorised to seek redress."
Example
More examples"In reality, the levels of work varied: some internationals seemed overburdened with tasks and responsibility, some seemed underburdened, and some faced apparently just the right amount of work."
Etymology
From under- + burden.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.