understatement
part of speech
noun (an understatement, understatements; understatement — uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) An understatement is a way of saying something that makes it sound smaller, weaker or less important than it really is. tree →
2) Understatement is the habit or style of speaking this way, often for humour or politeness. tree →
sense in the lessons
In English lessons it is a figure of speech, the opposite of exaggeration (hyperbole); British humour is famous for it. In everyday talk: «That's an understatement!» means the truth is much bigger. In stories it shows a calm or funny character: calling a hurricane «a bit windy».
examples
- Saying the hurricane was «a bit windy» is an understatement. tree →
- «It's an understatement to say I was hungry – I was starving!» tree →
- British people are known for understatement. tree →
- The coach called our 10–0 win «not bad», which was an understatement. tree →
- Find the understatement in the poem. tree →
- To say the test was hard is an understatement. tree →
note
Opposite: «overstatement» or «exaggeration». Not a lie: the speaker and listener both know the truth is bigger. «The understatement of the year» is a joking phrase.
In the corpora
- Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole: it makes things sound SMALLER than they are.
- Understatement means describing something as smaller, milder or less important than it really is, often to sound calm, polite or funny.
- Not bad at all, kiddo» about 19 out of 20 is understatement (litotes): Dad is proud.
- Lewis Carroll and Kenneth Grahame both loved hyperbole and understatement, and they made jokes out of them.
- I'm more in the water than out of it most days» — kind understatement that makes the Mole feel better.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «understatement» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.