underbred
- adjective
- /ˌʌndərˈbrɛd/
- Offensive
- The judge disqualified the underbred hound from the competition due to its ancestry.
Examples
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The underbred dog struggled to keep up with the purebreds.
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The shelter took in several underbred puppies from the local area.
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Some breeders look down on underbred animals, but they can make wonderful pets.
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Many believe that underbred animals should not be allowed in competitions.
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Some breeders dismiss underbred dogs as less desirable because they are not purebred.
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The judge found the underbred terrier ineligible for the dog show due to its mixed heritage.
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Although underbred, the puppy was playful and friendly, winning the hearts of its new family.
Synonyms
An animal with only one purebred parent
Born from parents who are not closely related to have more different genes
An animal whose one parent is pure and the other parent is mixed
An animal or plant bred from parents of different breeds, sometimes from different species
Antonyms
- Specialized
Has parents and grandparents from the same family line without mixing with other animals
How Purebred
Surface Forms
Morphology
underbred = bred (transparent) = under + breed + ed
The prefix 'under-' signals insufficiency or lower degree when attached to 'bred' (not well-bred / not purebred), making the meaning directly inferable.
Etymology
Underbred joins under- ('not enough') with bred (from 'breed', the word for family or type of animal). So for animals, underbred means 'not a purebred' and is used for mixed or lower-status breeding.