Underdirect

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To exert too little artistic control when directing (a play or film).

    "Despite the seeming interest of the screenplay, Romero underdirects the entire effort, sending his actors through their paces without bothering to make them believe in the film."

  2. 2
    To provide too little guidance or direction.

    "The opinion is expressed that time is wasted by misdirected or underdirected visiting of schools."

Example

More examples

"Despite the seeming interest of the screenplay, Romero underdirects the entire effort, sending his actors through their paces without bothering to make them believe in the film."

Etymology

From under- + direct.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.