be an understatement

been an understatementis an understatementwas an understatement

Definition

Definition of be an understatement - Reverso English Dictionary

Verbal expression

downplaydescribe something as less severe than it is

Saying it's cold outside would be an understatement.
Calling it a minor issue would be an understatement.
To say she was upset would be an understatement.

downplay

minimize

trivialize

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Expressions with understatement

understatement of the year

statement that greatly downplays a situation's reality

Saying it's chilly in Antarctica is the understatement of the year.

that's an understatement

exp.

expression of something less severe than it is

"The outage is inconvenient"—that's an understatement after three days without power.

and that is an understatement

exp.

saying something is much less than the real situation

The test was hard, and that is an understatement!

typical British understatement

adj.

showing the British way of downplaying things

Her comment was a typical British understatement of the situation.

View all translations of be an understatement

✨Click below to see the appropriate translations facing each meaning.

French:être un euphémisme, ...
German:eine Untertreibung sein, ...
Italian:essere un eufemismo, ...
Spanish:ser un eufemismo, ...
Portuguese:minimizar, ...
Chinese:轻描淡写, ...
Japanese:控えめに言う, ...
Arabic:قَلَّلَ من شأن, ...
Hebrew:לִהְיוֹת לְשׁוֹן הַמְעָטָה, ...
Russian:быть преуменьшением, ...
Ukrainian:заниження, ...
Hindi:कम करके कहना, ...
Bengali:কমিয়ে বলা, ...
Catalan:quedar curt, ...
Czech:být slabé slovo, ...
Danish:være en underdrivelse, ...
Dutch:een understatement zijn, ...
Greek:είναι λίγο να πει κανείς, ...
Hungarian:kisebbíteni, ...
Khmer:និយាយបន្ថយកម្រិតភាពធ្ងន់ធ្ងរពិតប្រាកដ, ...
Korean:과소평가이다, ...
Persian:کم‌اهمیت جلوه دادن, ...
Polish:umniejszać, ...
Portuguese (BR):ser um eufemismo, ...
Romanian:a fi o subestimare, ...
Swedish:vara en underdrift, ...
Thai:พูดให้น้อยกว่าความเป็นจริง, ...
Turkish:hafif kalmak, ...
Vietnamese:là nói giảm, ...

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