Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To fail to excite, stimulate, or impress.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To interest less than anticipated; to be dull to (a person).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To fail to
impress ; toperform disappointingly.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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It's a version of what might be called the "underwhelm" phenomenon – when journalists archly declare themselves to be "underwhelmed", as if informing the reader: do you see what I did?
Have mercy, take pity: The A-Team catchphrase is about to go viral 2010
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This is one of the first ARM netbooks available, there will be many others, maybe some that will not "underwhelm" the Windose fanbois.
Microsoft Watch 2009
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On a day when the higher-yielding euro was already under pressure from Portugal's mounting economic problems and jitters that European Union leaders would underwhelm markets with a proposal to address the euro-zone's sovereign-debt travails, the news boosted the dollar across the board.
Dollar Advances On GDP, Fed Talk Javier E. David 2011
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I have a feeling Iron Man 2 is going to underwhelm.
New Toy Story 3 Characters Revealed; Final Trailer Tomorrow | /Film 2010
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Now they seem to underwhelm us for some reason; when today's gunwriters list their favorite cartridges they usually forget to mention a 7mm Mag.
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European leaders meet Friday to debate a package to resolve the euro zone's debt crisis, but investors fear the deal will underwhelm due to political differences that have led Europe to scale down the measures' ambition.
What's News 2011
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But investors and analysts fear the deal will underwhelm, owing to political differences that have forced Europe to scale down the measures' ambition.
European Pact Loses Muscle Marcus Walker 2011
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"It seems to me that they can only underwhelm or disappoint at this juncture," said Scott Graham , head of the U.S. government trading desk at BMO Capital Markets, one of the 22 primary dealers that trades directly with the Federal Reserve and are obligated to bid at Treasury auctions.
Jury Out on Treasurys Rally Matt Phillips 2011
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But investors and analysts fear the deal will underwhelm, owing to political differences that have led Europe to scale down the measures' ambition.
World Watch 2011
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But successful geoeningeering might also encourage industrialized nations to continue to underwhelm on climate policy, because they would be protected from the consequences of their carbon emissions for longer.
An easy solution to climate change? Stephen Stromberg 2010
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