understatement

From under- +‎ statement or understate +‎ -ment.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndəˈsteɪtmənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndɚˈsteɪtmənt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪtmənt
• Hyphenation: un‧​der‧state‧ment

understatement (usually uncountable, plural understatements)

1. (uncountable, rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is made to seem smaller or less important than it actually is, either through phrasing or lack of emphasis, often for ironic effect.

   Synonym: meiosis

   Antonyms: auxesis, hyperbole

   Hyponym: litotes

   A master of understatement

   • 2004, Rowan Manahan, Where's My Oasis?:, page 158:

     And that mode of expression is very demurring and self-deprecating. Victorian English was all about understatement.

2. (countable) An instance of such phrasing or lack of emphasis; an incomplete statement.

   Synonym: trivialization

   Antonyms: exaggeration, overstatement

   Hyponym: laconism

   Now that's an understatement.

3. An incomplete disclosure that intentionally withholds relevant information.

• do a lot of work
• litote
• to say the least

• misunderstatement

Unadapted borrowing from English understatement.

• IPA^(key): /ˌɑn.də(r)ˈsteːt.mənt/ (the realisation may approximate English pronunciation: /ər/ will often be realised as [ɚ] or [ə])

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: un‧der‧state‧ment

understatement n (plural understatements)

1. (rhetoric) understatement

   Synonym: parabool

Unadapted borrowing from English understatement.

• IPA^(key): /an.dersˈtɛjt.ment/, /an.dersˈtejt.ment/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛjtment, -ejtment

understatement m (invariable)

1. (rhetoric) understatement