# understate

**Pronunciation:** /ˌʌndərˈsteɪt/ · uhn-der-STAYT

**Part of speech:** verb

## Meaning

To represent something as being less important, serious, or large than it really is.

## Examples

- He tended to understate his achievements, even though he had worked incredibly hard.
- The report deliberately understated the risks involved in the project.
- She was so modest that she always understated her own contributions to the team's success.

## Synonyms

- downplay — To make something seem less important than it is.
- minimize — To reduce something to the smallest possible amount or degree.
- belittle — To make someone or something seem unimportant.
- discount — To regard something as unimportant or not true.

## Antonyms

- overstate — To state something too strongly; to exaggerate.
- exaggerate — To represent something as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.

## Common patterns

- understate something — To represent a fact or situation as less significant than it is. — He tends to understate his own importance in the company.
- understate the case — To say less than is true or appropriate, often for emphasis. — Calling that disaster a 'hiccup' would be to understate the case.

## Collocations

- understate the case — To say it was a minor inconvenience would be to understate the case.
- understate the facts — He felt the official report understated the facts of the situation.
- understate the severity — She tried to understate the severity of her illness to her family.

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