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underspending

underspending

4.4
Using less money than planned or expected
  • noun
  • /ˌʌndərˈspɛndɪŋ/
translation icon : subgasto
  • The budget report highlighted an overall trend of underspending in various departments this fiscal year.

Examples

  • The city faced criticism due to its underspending on essential public services.

  • Last year's underspending allowed the organization to save a significant amount for future projects.

  • The underspending situation of 2009 was made up for during 2010 with over 45% extra spending.

    Blog text (22)
  • To be sure, nobody has suggested that government underspending can massively contribute to big depressions, even though this is only the flip side of overproduction.

    Blog text (29)

Synonyms

underinvestment
vsunderspending
1 6.1

Not spending enough money to keep, improve, or grow something

refers to spending less than planned across budgets rather than focusing on upkeep or growth

Antonyms

7 4.4

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

How Much

spending
1.7
underspending
4.4

Surface Forms

underspending singular

Morphology

underspending = underspend (transparent) = under + spend + ing

Formed by productive prefix 'under-' + verb 'spend' with the nominalizing '-ing'; the meaning 'spend less' is directly inferable.

Etymology

Underspending comes from under- meaning 'below' or 'not enough' and spend meaning 'use money', so think of it as 'spending below the plan'. That's why underspending means the situation of using less money than was planned.