underserved

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndəˈsɜːvd/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndɚˈsɝvd/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌɐndəˈsɜːvd/

Etymology 1

From under- +‎ served.

Adjective

underserved (comparative more underserved, superlative most underserved)

1. Underresourced; not having sufficient service.

   Many families who live paycheck-to-paycheck are currently underserved by the financial services industry.

   1. (medicine) Disadvantaged with regard to health services because of inability to pay, inability to access care, or other disparities for reasons of race, religion, language group or social status.
   2. Poorly served.

      Hyponym: underbanked

      • 2021 February 24, Philip Haigh, “A shift from cars: Scotland's railways are friends of electric!”, in RAIL, number 925, page 31:

        It's too early to say precisely which corridors it will use, but TS notes a potential focus on underserved areas with poor connectivity - a need to improve access to the city centre, hospitals, colleges, employment centres, shopping centres and leisure facilities.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with undeserved.

Alternative forms

• under-served

Derived terms

• nonunderserved

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí

Proto-Indo-European *-ér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér

Proto-Germanic *under

Proto-West Germanic *undar

Old English under-

Middle English under-

English under-

English serve

English underserve

English -ed

English underserved

From underserve + -ed.

Verb

underserved

1. simple past and past participle of underserve