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Glite Dictionary
to underspend

to underspend

5.7
To use less money than planned or expected
  • verb
  • /ˌʌndərˈspɛnd/
translation icon : gastar menos
  • Underspending on schools has resulted in a massive shortage of skilled workers.

Examples

  • So if you underspend, but you make something look really nice cheaply, you make profit.

  • Companies are likely to underspend on innovation since they cannot always reap the full rewards of their investments.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Yet the world is woefully underspending on clean-energy innovation.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Many households tend to underspend during the winter months to save for holiday expenses.

  • If we underspend on marketing, we may not reach our sales targets this year.

  • The city plans to underspend on public transportation improvements to allocate funds for road repairs.

Synonyms

to underconsume
vsto underspend
  • Specialized
7.7

Spend less money on goods and services than usual

spend less than planned or allocated, focused on budget differences

Antonyms

to overspend
7 4.4

To use more money than you can afford or planned to use

How Much

to overspend
7 4.4
to spend
∞ 1.0
to underspend
5.7

Surface Forms

underspend infinitive
underspending present participle
underspends third person singular
underspent past
underspent past participle

Morphology

underspend = spend (transparent) = under + spend

The prefix 'under-' clearly modifies 'spend' to indicate spending less than expected or required.

Etymology

Underspend starts with under-, which means 'below' or 'less', and ends with spend, which means 'to use money', so it means to use less money than was planned.