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Glite Dictionary
📉 To not use fully 📉 Not enough use
underuse

underuse

1 4.3
Not using something as much as you should
  • noun
  • /ˌʌndərˈjuːs/
translation icon : subutilización
  • WHO and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) highlight the underuse of opioids and subsequent undertreatment of pain in many countries.
  • underuse of hospice
  • underuse of services
  • underuse of medicines

Examples

  • The underuse of public transport options can lead to increased traffic congestion in cities.

  • Results indicate that both qualitative and quantitative methods have identified the following key factors that contribute to the underuse of hospice services by members of the African American community: personal or cultural values in conflict with hospice philosophy, lack of awareness of hospice services, concern about burdening family, economic factors, mistrust of the health care system, and expected lack of ethnic minority employees in hospice agencies.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The other example is the underuse of shortcuts.

  • This results in duplication of services and technology, underuse of services and technology, and competition for technical staff.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The reasons for this underuse are many but may include a lack of knowledge and comfort of caregivers with these types of interventions.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Underuse of vaccinations: Third was vaccination underuse, at a cost to the country of $53 billion.

    Blog text (12)

  • Although many key factors contribute to the underuse of hospice services by members of the African American community, the majority of the identified factors are not specific to this particular population.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Nevertheless, the government sees the private sector's partnership in the FP programme as a key component of its current strategy to reduce underuse of medicines.

    Academic text (2016)

  • There currently appears to be an underuse of the INCB allocation of opioids for about 150 million Bangladeshis.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Not only can they help physicians produce better patient outcomes; they can also help physicians distinguish between medical procedures that are needed and those that are not needed, thus limiting both underuse and overuse of care.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

underutilization
vsunderuse
1 7.2

A situation where people do not use something as much as they should

is focused on the action of using something less rather than the ongoing state

Antonyms

overuse
16 3.8

Using something too often so it becomes harmful or less effective

How Much

to overuse
20 3.7
use
∞ 1.0
underuse
1 4.3
nonuse
4.4

Surface Forms

underuse singular
underuses plural

Morphology

underuse = use (transparent) = under + use

The prefix 'under-' clearly indicates a lesser degree of the action 'use', making the meaning straightforward.

Etymology

Underuse is made from under- ('not enough' or 'below') and use ('to use'), so imagine a library book left on a shelf gathering dust. Underuse means the act of using something less than it should be.