Underestimate

//ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An estimate that is too low.
  2. 2
    an estimation that is too low; an estimate that is less than the true or actual value wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has. transitive

    "It recalls the business case for Scotland's reopening of the Borders Railway to Tweedbank, that British Rail closed in 1969. The review says the business case for this was at best borderline, but goes on to say that the case greatly underestimated passenger demand and that the railway Scotland built has capped its capacity."

  2. 2
    make too low an estimate of wordnet
  3. 3
    To perceive or expect (someone or something) to be less significant or difficult than it actually is. transitive

    "I totally underestimated the task."

  4. 4
    make a deliberately low estimate wordnet
  5. 5
    assign too low a value to wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
belittlemake light ofmisjudgeunderestimationunderrateundervalue

Example

More examples

"She tends to underestimate her own ability."

Etymology

From under- + estimate.

Related phrases

nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American peoplenobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American people

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