understatement
/ʌndəˈsteɪtm(ə)nt
/ /ˈʌndəsteɪtm(ə)nt/noun [mass noun]
The presentation of something as being smaller or less good or important than it really is: a master of English understatement [count noun]: to say I am delighted is an understatement...
- He was a natural diplomat, too, cool as a breeze under pressure and a master of understatement.
- She is at once fiercely competitive and ladylike, a fighter to the death and yet a model of polite understatement.
- The reading of his will raised some eyebrows, to riot in understatement.
Synonyms
minimization, trivialization, euphemism;
understatedness, restraint, reserve, underplaying, underemphasis;
subtlety, delicacy
technical litotes, meiosis
- Roman snail
- romanso
- Roman steelyard
- Roman string
- romantic
- romantical
- romanticalism
- romanticality
- romantically
- romanticalness
- romantic comedy
- Romantic irony
- romanticise
- romanticism
- romanticist
- romanticity
- romanticization
- romanticize
- romanticky
- romanticly
- romanticness
- Romantic Revival
- romantism
- romantist
- Roman uncial