Standard Lemma guide

underachiever

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH1 N D ER0 AH0 CH IY2 V ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

One who underachieves, i.e. performs less well than expected.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: overachiever

2

noun

Meaning 2

a student who does not perform as well as expected or as well as the IQ indicates

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: underperformer, nonachiever

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: student, pupil, educatee

History

Etymology

From underachieve + -er or under- + achiever.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 后进生 (hòujìnshēng) — one who underachieves
  • Finnish: alisuorittaja — one who underachieves
  • German: Minderleister — one who underachieves
  • German: Minderleisterin — one who underachieves
  • Icelandic: fúx — one who underachieves
  • Icelandic: bekkjarlalli — one who underachieves
  • Spanish: sublogrador — one who underachieves
  • Spanish: infralogrador — one who underachieves