Word family noun achievement achiever underachiever ≠ overachiever underachievement ≠ overachievement adjective achievable verb achieve underachieve ≠ overachieve
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishunderachieverun‧der‧a‧chiev‧er /ˌʌndərəˈtʃiːvə $ -ər/ noun [countable] GOOD ENOUGH#someone who does not do as well at school or at work as they could do if they worked harder —underachieve verb [intransitive] —underachievement noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
underachiever• There were moments when the 1. 8T Quattro behaved as an underachiever.• How do educators determine if a child is an underachiever?• Usually, he is shy, a loner, an underachiever who may feel dominated by his regular partner.• His presence goes a long way toward explaining why the Seahawks have gone from early-season underachievers to playoff contenders.• Unfortunately for our beloved Sean Elliott, the Spurs are notoriously soft underachievers come playoff time.