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to underspend

to underspend

1 5.7
To use less money than planned or expected
  • verb
  • /ˌʌndərˈspɛnd/
: 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
1 7.7

Spend less money on goods and services than usual

spend less than planned or allocated, focused on budget differences

Antonyms

15 4.4

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

How Much

to overspend
15 4.4
to spend
∞ 1.0
to underspend
1 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.