undersell
Americanverb (used with object)
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to sell more cheaply than.
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to advertise with restraint; understate the merits of (something).
By underselling his product, he let his hearers convince themselves of its importance.
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to sell for less than the actual value.
verb
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to sell for less than the usual or expected price
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(tr) to sell at a price lower than that of (another seller)
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(tr) to advertise (merchandise) with moderation or restraint
Other Word Forms
- underseller noun
Etymology
Origin of undersell
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One former staffer recalled how Warsh, a Fed governor in his own right, would introduce himself to lawmakers as an aide to Bernanke, vastly underselling his role.
“I can’t undersell what a major win that is to protect the records of all these patients.”
From Los Angeles Times
But even that eye-popping number undersells just how efficient he was, as he prepares to face the San Francisco 49ers for a spot in the NFC Championship game.
Mr. Vartanian also understates the importance of blockchain technology when he acknowledges that “cryptocurrencies and blockchain products have brought efficiencies and advances to payment systems”—faint praise that undersells what is happening in global finance.
In fact, he might have been underselling things.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
