misunderestimation

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-?

Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der.

Proto-Germanic *missaz

Proto-Germanic *missa-

Proto-West Germanic *missa-

Old English mis-

Middle English mys-

English mis-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi

?

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 estimation

English underestimation

English misunderestimation

From mis- + underestimation.

Noun

misunderestimation (countable and uncountable, plural misunderestimations)

1. (nonstandard) An inaccurate underestimation, or an act of misunderestimating; misestimation of the low-side error type.
   • 1983, "Mr. Peck", Department of Transportation and related agencies appropriations for 1984: Hearings‎^[1], page 157:

     We find even in our own agency very significant misunderestimations of the effectiveness.

   • 2009 January 15, Gail Collins, “He’s Leaving. Really.”, in The New York Times‎^[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 May 2023:

     This is not the first time our president has worried about misunderestimation, so it’s fair to regard this not as a slip of the tongue, but as something the president of the United States thinks is a word.

Usage notes

• As with the root misunderestimate, this is usually but not always employed in jocular reference to former US President George W. Bush.

Hypernyms

• misestimation