Underweight

Pronunciation varies by accent · adjective

Meaning

Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight..

Definitions by Sense

1. Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight.
2. Not too heavy for an intended purpose.
3. (finance) Being less invested in a particular area than market wisdom suggests.
4. (uncountable) The state or quality of being underweight.
5. (countable) An underweight person.
6. (countable, finance) An underweight investment.
7. (transitive) To underestimate the weight of.
8. (transitive) To give insufficient weight to (a consideration); to underestimate the importance of.

Example Sentences

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.

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

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.

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.

Further, structured managers usually attempt to hit their lower targets by relying on a relatively large number of small active deviations (i.e., overweights and underweights).

Synonyms for underweight

Antonyms for underweight

Related Words

Word Forms

• more underweight
• most underweight
• underweights
• underweighting
• underweighted

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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