underestimate

English

Etymology

under- +‎ estimate

Pronunciation

• verb: IPA^(key): /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.meɪt/
• noun: IPA^(key): /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.mɪt/, /ʌndɚˈɛs.tɪ.mət/

Verb

underestimate (third-person singular simple present underestimates, present participle underestimating, simple past and past participle underestimated)

1. (transitive) To estimate too low; to perceive (someone or something) as having a lower value, quantity, worth, etc., than what he/she/it actually has.
   • 2023 September 6, Philip Haigh, “£30 billion plan to transform the rail network in Ireland”, in RAIL, number 991, page 25:

     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. (transitive) To perceive or expect (someone or something) to be less significant or difficult than it actually is.

   I totally underestimated the task.

Synonyms

• belittle
• make light of
• misunderestimate
• misjudge

Antonyms

• (to perceive as having lower value): overestimate

Coordinate terms

• understate

Derived terms

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

Translations

to perceive as having lower value

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: اِسْتَخَفَّ‎ (istaḵaffa), اِسْتَهَانَ‎ (istahāna)
• Armenian: թերագնահատել (hy) (tʿeragnahatel)
• Belarusian: недаацэ́ньваць impf (njedaacénʹvacʹ), недаацані́ць pf (njedaacanícʹ)
• Bulgarian: подценя́вам (bg) impf (podcenjávam), подценя́ pf (podcenjá)
• Catalan: subestimar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 低估 (zh) (dīgū)

• Czech: podcenit (cs)
• Danish: undervurdere
• Dutch: onderschatten (nl)
• Esperanto: subtaksi
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: aliarvioida (fi)
• French: sous-estimer (fr)
• Galician: subestimar (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: unterschätzen (de)
• Greek: υποτιμώ (el) (ypotimó), υποεκτιμώ (el) (ypoektimó)
• Hebrew: זִלְזֵל‎ (he) (zilzél)
• Hungarian: alábecsül (hu)
• Italian: sottovalutare (it), sottostimare (it)
• Japanese: 過小評価する (kashōhyōka suru), 侮る (ja) (anadoru), 舐める (ja) (nameru)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: ënnerschätzen
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: undervurdere

  Nynorsk: undervurdere

• Polish: zaniżać impf, zaniżyć pf, nie doceniać
• Portuguese: menosprezar (pt), subestimar, fazer pouco
• Romanian: subevalua (ro), subestima (ro)
• Russian: недооце́нивать (ru) impf (nedoocénivatʹ), недооцени́ть (ru) pf (nedoocenítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: подцењивати impf, подценити pf
• Slovak: podceňovať impf, podceniť pf
• Slovene: podcenjevati (sl) impf, podceniti pf
• Spanish: subestimar (es)
• Swedish: underskatta (sv), undervärdera (sv)
• Tagalog: maliitin
• Telugu: తక్కువ అంచనా వేయు (takkuva añcanā vēyu)
• Thai: ดูถูกดูแคลน (duu tùuk duu klæn)
• Turkish: azımsamak (tr), hafife almak (tr), küçümsemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: недооці́нювати impf (nedoocínjuvaty), недооціни́ти pf (nedoocinýty)

Noun

underestimate (plural underestimates)

1. An estimate that is too low.

Synonyms

• underestimation

Antonyms

• overestimate

Translations

an estimate that is too low

• Armenian: թերագնահատում (hy) (tʿeragnahatum)
• Belarusian: недаацэ́нка f (njedaacénka)
• Bulgarian: недооце́нка (bg) f (nedoocénka)
• Dutch: onderschatting (nl) f
• Finnish: alhainen arvio, aliarviointi
• French: sous-estimation (fr) f
• German: Unterschätzung f
• Italian: sottostima (it) f, sottovalutazione f
• Polish: niedocenienie (pl) n, niedoszacowanie n, zbyt niskie oszacowanie n
• Russian: недооце́нка (ru) f (nedoocénka)
• Swedish: underskattning (sv) c, undervärdering c