underrate

verb

un·​der·​rate ˌən-dər-ˈrāt How to pronounce underrate (audio)
ˌən-də-
underrated; underrating; underrates

transitive verb

: to rate or value (something or someone) too low : undervalue
His off-the-cuff improvisations, his airy tendency to throw out half-baked ideas, caused others to underrate his continuity of purpose …Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
As I watched the film for the first time …, it seemed to me that its effect was to exploit innocence and violence in ways that overrate the power of the first and underrate the complexity of the second …Vincent Canby
see also underrated

Examples of underrate in a Sentence

She underrated her student's ability. it's perhaps the most underrated film of the last decade
Recent Examples on the Web How can somebody be successful and underrated at the same time? Angel Diaz, Billboard, 3 Apr. 2024 While still underrated on American shores, Rohrwacher has won over a lot of high-profile fans beyond O’Connor. Esther Zuckerman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024 Kevin Chalfant is a very fine singer, and in my estimation, underrated in the world of pop singers. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024 For whatever reason, that’s when Freud seeks out Lewis, played by Matthew Goode, always good and often underrated. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 9 Jan. 2024 The study analyzed satellite images to track retreat and found that the breakup of icebergs has accelerated in Greenland and that previous analyses might have underrated its influence. Evan Bush, NBC News, 17 Jan. 2024 Whether critically acclaimed or criminally underrated, each of these shows will engage you enough to leave real life behind, and journey somewhere more imaginative. EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023 Women such as Adele Goldstine, Grace Hopper, Kay McNulty, and Betty Snyder developed early computing languages and debugging methods, becoming some of the nation’s earliest and most adept programmers, underrated as that label (and their work) was at the time. Anna Shechtman, The New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2024 And considering the fact that the park saw just over 140,000 visitors in 2022 — for context, 12.9 million visited Great Smoky Mountains National Park that same year — there’s no denying the park is underrated. Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 26 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'underrate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1632, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of underrate was in 1632

Dictionary Entries Near underrate

Cite this Entry

“Underrate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underrate. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

underrate

verb
un·​der·​rate ˌən-də(r)-ˈrāt How to pronounce underrate (audio)
: to rate too low : undervalue

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