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Glite Dictionary
to undernourish

to undernourish

3 6.3
To give a person or animal not enough food to be healthy
  • verb
  • /ˌʌndərˈnʊrɪʃ/
translation icon : desnutrir
  • You see tubercular, gout-ridden, undernourished workers and their emaciated, half-starved children.
  • chronically undernourished
  • millions of undernourished

Examples

  • Nearly 800 million people are chronically undernourished even though food is abundant.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Many children go undernourished, are inadequately clothed, and live in substandard housing.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Both of you were undernourished, half starving.

    Academic text (2007)

  • Many of our students came to school undernourished, physically and emotionally.

    Academic text (1995)

  • But, yeah, many of us in developed nations are overfed and undernourished.

    Blog text (12)

  • Carmen wasn't just thin; she looked undernourished.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Probably, close to three-quarters of a billion people will be chronically undernourished.

    Academic text (2001)

  • One may have more money and more food than another, but be more undernourished because of parasites or because of a necessity to work harder collecting water and wood.

    Academic text (1998)

  • At the beginning of the 21st century, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimated that the world's population now includes more than 850 million undernourished persons, including 17 percent of those living in developing countries.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Many children in developing countries are often undernourished, which affects their growth and learning abilities.

Synonyms

to malnourish
vsto undernourish
16 6.8

Give a person or animal too little food so they become unhealthy

focuses on the lack of nourishment provided rather than the visible outcomes
to underfeed
vsto undernourish
4.9

To give too little food to a person, animal, or plant

refers more to lacking necessary nourishment for proper growth and health

Antonyms

to nourish
49 3.2

To give food and care so a person, animal, or plant grows and stays healthy

How Nourished

to starve
134 3.0
to malnourish
16 6.8
to undernourish
3 6.3

Surface Forms

undernourish infinitive
undernourished past
undernourished past participle
undernourishing present participle
undernourishes third person singular

Morphology

undernourish = nourish (transparent) = under + nourish

The meaning is directly derived from the productive prefix 'under-' (insufficient) plus the verb 'nourish', so learners who know the components can infer the meaning.

Etymology

The word undernourish is made of under- ('not enough' or 'below') and nourish ('to feed' or 'help grow'). So it literally means to give someone 'not enough' food or care, which is why it means to provide too little food for proper growth.