English Explanatory Dictionary

underwhelm

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To fail to impress; to perform disappointingly.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-underwhelm.wav

Word forms

underwhelm underwhelms underwhelming underwhelmed

Etymology

From under- + whelm: a humorous coinage by novel negation of overwhelm first recorded in the 1950s.

Antonyms

overawe overwhelm

Related words

anticlimax damp squib
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