misunderstatement

English

Etymology

mis- +‎ understatement

Noun

misunderstatement (plural misunderstatements)

1. An understatement made by mistake or that is so extremely understated as to be misleading.
   • 1937, Harper's Magazine - Volume 176, page 389:

     To describe it as naïve would be a flagrant misunderstatement, but its sole purpose is to get laughs, and anyone who doubts its ability to do this has only to be reminded that for eighteen years now, day in and day out, " Aaron Slick " has averaged better than three productions every day.

   • 1971, United States. Congress. Senate. Special Committee on Aging. Subcommittee on Housing for the Elderly, Adequacy of Federal Response to Housing Needs of Older Americans, page 665:

     To say that the moratorium imposed by the present administration in Washington has had a disasstrous effect on meeting the housing needs of the elderly would be a gross misunderstatement.

   • 1983, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, International Financial Markets and Related Problems, page 111:

     The Fed has considerable resources. In some ways, I think this is a gross misunderstatement because the Fed really, literally, has unlimited resources.

   • 2007, B. Elwin Sherman, George W. Bush -- On the Trips of His Tongue, page 20:

     This first presents as a grand misunderstatement, but let's not be too quick to judge.

   • 2009, Aaron Feigenbaum, The Unauthorized History of DX:

     To say that Shawn was not popular in the locker room would be a gross misunderstatement.