underrate
/,ʌndə'reit/
Definition
- Verb:
- To make too low an estimate of the value, ability, importance, or strength of someone or something; to fail to appreciate fully.
Usage and Examples
- Verb:
- It is a mistake to underrate your opponent's skill.
- Many people underrate the importance of a good night's sleep.
- The critics tended to underrate her early novels, which later became classics.
Advanced Usage
- "to underrate someone/something": This is the standard construction, indicating the object being undervalued.
- You should never underrate the power of a simple act of kindness.
- Often used in passive voice: "to be underrated".
- He is one of the most underrated directors of his generation.
Variants and Related Words
- Underrated (adj): Describing something or someone that has not been fully appreciated or valued.
- This underrated restaurant serves the best food in the city.
- Underestimation (n): The act or result of estimating something to be smaller or less important than it actually is. (Note: This is a related noun form, though it derives from 'underestimate').
- His underestimation of the task's difficulty led to failure.
Synonyms
- Underestimate: To judge something to be smaller or less important than it really is.
- Undervalue: To place too low a value on something.
- Minimize: To represent or estimate at less than the true value or importance.
- Sell short: (Idiomatic) To undervalue or underestimate.
Antonyms
- Overrate: To have too high an opinion of; to overestimate.
- Overvalue: To place too high a value on.
- Exaggerate: To represent something as greater than it is.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "Don't sell him/her short": An idiom advising not to underestimate someone.
- She may be quiet, but don't sell her short—she's a brilliant strategist.
- While not a phrasal verb of 'underrate', the concept is central to the idiom "to not do someone/something justice", meaning to represent or treat someone/thing in a way that is inadequate and fails to show their true qualities.
- This brief review doesn't do the film justice; it's far more complex than it seems.
Verb
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make too low an estimate of
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he underestimated the work that went into the renovation
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Don't underestimate the danger of such a raft trip on this river
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