Word family noun statement understatement ≠ overstatement adjective understated ≠ overstated verb state understate ≠ overstate
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishunderstatementun‧der‧state‧ment /ˌʌndəˈsteɪtmənt $ -dər-/ ●○○ noun 1 [countable]EXPRESS a statement that is not strong enough to express how good, bad, impressive etc something really is To say the movie was bad is an understatement. ‘It wasn’t very easy to find the house.’ ‘That’s got to be the understatement of the year!’2 [uncountable]DESCRIBE the practice of making something seem to have less of a particular quality than it really haswith understatement ‘We have not done quite well enough, ’ Macmillan said, with characteristic understatement.Examples from the Corpus
understatement• To say that I was surprised by this state of affairs would be an understatement.• To say I was surprised would be an understatement.• To say that Reba Cooley presented a striking appearance would have been an understatement of ridiculous proportions.• To suggest that Niagara was an obsession with him is an understatement.• We had had a superb day's climbing, and to say his death was tragic is an understatement.• That's the biggest understatement of all time!• To say that his situation was difficult would be a decided understatement.• She was conscious of being a misfit, and that was a great understatement.is an understatement• To say that the teaching staff were not Anglo-Catholic is an understatement.• To say she came gingerly is an understatement.• To suggest that Niagara was an obsession with him is an understatement.• Odd is an understatement of classic proportions, but then M R James is a very understated writer.• To say that Crenshaw is off the beaten path is an understatement.• Well, I am no medical man, but that is an understatement.• We had had a superb day's climbing, and to say his death was tragic is an understatement.• To say Link Wray is the most important and influential rock guitarist of the past 40 years is an understatement. 