understatement

noun

un·​der·​state·​ment ˌən-dər-ˈstāt-mənt 

plural understatements

1

: a statement that represents something as smaller or less intense, or less important than it really is : a statement that understates something

To say that I was surprised by this outcome would be an understatement. I was completely blindsided ….

—Russ Becker

It is an understatement to say that the Internet has made life far more convenient for staggeringly many people.

—Cass R. Sunstein

also : the act of understating something or the practice of making such statements

understatement of population growth

To say Britain isn't good at coping with snow would be to exercise British understatement.

—Catherine Mayer

We have been taught to value terseness and understatement …

—Irving Howe

2

: the avoidance of obvious emphasis or embellishment : an understated condition, appearance, etc.

Sure, glamour is still the operative word regarding fashion, but where flamboyance once ruled, there is now understatement and classic elegance.

—Premiere

He capitalizes on his reputation for understatement by saving huge sonorities for significant occasions; as a result, his rare musical outbursts seem not so much theatrical as visceral, as if they were blows sustained in real time.

—Alex Ross

Examples of understatement in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To say that Boots Riley is an unlikely showrunner is an understatement. —Akiva Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2024

To say Embiid mucked the game up is an understatement. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 14 June 2024

To say that is highly unusual would be an understatement. —Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 7 June 2024

Europe, facing new conflict, recalls what their comrades died for. June 6, 2024 At first blush, the town seems, well, too unabashedly and in-your-face American for a country that revels in self-criticism and understatement. —Catherine Porter Andrea Mantovani, New York Times, 7 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing understatement

• the understatement of the year