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 soap changed the course of civilization is an understatement. —Paul E. Richardson, The Conversation, 28 Apr. 2025

Shea Theodore’s Knightmare start To say Vegas’ top-scoring defensemen had a rough start to the game would be an understatement. —Michael Russo, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2025

In doing so, his luxury brand aesthetic is a distillation of everything that’s shaped him: the clean precision of Italian tailoring, the meditative beauty of modernist architecture, and the confidence of understatement. —Jeetendr Sehdev, Forbes.com, 15 Apr. 2025

Watch On To say there are tons of great-looking upcoming space games on the horizon is an understatement. —Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 15 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1799, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing understatement

• the understatement of the year

Rhymes for understatement

• abatement
• affreightment
• misstatement
• restatement
• overstatement
• reinstatement
• statement