Standard Lemma guide

underweight

adj · noun · verb · 10 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 W EY2 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He's so underweight he's had to buy smaller clothes.
  • He's thirty pounds underweight.
  • The market trader was fined for selling underweight bags of fruit.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Not too heavy for an intended purpose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The suitcase is just slightly underweight; I'll let it on the plane.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Being less invested in a particular area than market wisdom suggests.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, finance

Examples

  • The fund is underweight in mining.
  • 2011, Murdoch, S. Foreigners back for Aussie stocks, The Australian "It's a long-run trend of foreign investors -- typically being underweight the banking sector in Australia," Mr Baker said.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The state or quality of being underweight.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • 1996, United States Institute of Medicine Committee on Scientific Evaluation of WIC Nutrition Risk Criteria, WIC Nutrition Risk Criteria: A Scientific Assessment, National Academies Press, →ISBN, page 110, Underweight reflects the body’s thinness, but the term does not necessarily imply the nature and causes of underweight.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

An underweight person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

An underweight investment.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: business, finance

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To underestimate the weight of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To give insufficient weight to (a consideration); to underestimate the importance of.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

verb

Meaning 9

To invest in less than conventional wisdom would dictate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Topics: business, finance

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

adjective satellite

Meaning 10

being very thin

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a child with skinny freckled legs
  • a long scrawny neck

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: scraggy, boney, scrawny, skinny, weedy

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h1én Proto-Indo-European *h1entér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dhí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dhér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English weight English underweight From under- + weight.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: alipainoinen — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • French: maigre — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Greek: λιποβαρής (lipovarís) — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Polish: mający niedowagę — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Polish: niedoważony — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Russian: недове́шенный (nedovéšennyj) — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Russian: недове́шенная (nedovéšennaja) — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Russian: недове́шенные (nedovéšennyje) — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: con infrapeso — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: bajo de pesantez — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: con insuficiente pesadez — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: con demasiada poca pesadumbre — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: faltarle pesadura — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: tener excesivamente poco pesor — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: tener pesantez demasiadamente baja — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Spanish: tener demasiado poca pesadura — of an inappropriately or unusually low weight
  • Finnish: alipaino — the state of being underweight
  • German: Untergewicht — the state of being underweight
  • Polish: niedowaga — the state of being underweight
  • Russian: недове́с (nedovés) — the state of being underweight
  • Russian: недовесок (nedovesok) — the state of being underweight
  • Spanish: infrapeso — the state of being underweight
  • Spanish: insuficiente pesantez — the state of being underweight
  • Spanish: pesadura excesivamente baja — the state of being underweight
  • Spanish: demasiado poco pesor — the state of being underweight