Dictionary

underimpress en · VERB

Pronunciation

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Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *-tér Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *h₂én Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-? Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi ? Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Proto-Indo-European *per-? Proto-Indo-European *pres-der. Proto-Italic *pres- Latin premō Latin imprimō Latin impressusder. Middle English impressen English impress English underimpress From under- + impress.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To impress less than expected; to disappoint, to underwhelm.
   • The tendency for judges to be overly impressed by family work done by fathers and underimpressed by that done by mothers shows how women can be made vulnerable by a standard designed around gender rather than around sex. 2001 September 13, Joan Williams, Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What To Do About It, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 230:
   • Just as too much scientific evidence and medical detail may overwhelm or underimpress the court, the opinion should not contain too much 'heart-searching' and repetitive reasoning. 2020 August 25, Niruj Agrawal, Rafey Faruqui, Mayur Bodani, Oxford Textbook of Neuropsychiatry (Oxford Textbooks in Psychiatry), Oxford University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 524:
   • Farmed trout, which used to underimpress me with its boring tastelessness, has gone through some kind of taste revolution: it's absolutely terrific, now, whenever I buy it. 2014, Tod Davies, “Three: Food for Home”, in Jam Today Too, United States: Exterminating Angel Press, →ISBN:

Forms