underplacement

English

Etymology

under- +‎ placement

Noun

underplacement (countable and uncountable, plural underplacements)

1. Placement below or subordinate to others.
2. Assignment to a placement that does not fully use the person's talents.

   the underplacement of gifted students

   • 2021, Michael J. Sauter, European Thought and Culture, 1350-1992: Burdens of Knowing:

     After graduation, he landed a job as a patent clerk in the Swiss city of Bern, which qualifies as one of the great professional underplacements of all time.

3. Extreme underconfidence.
   • 2012, Max H. Bazerman, Don A. Moore, Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, page 27:

     The mistake of overplacement has led eager and ambitious entrepreneurs to throw their life savings into ventures that fail. The mistake of underplacement, on the other hand, regularly leads to terrible missed opportunities by those who would have succeeded had they only the courage to try.

Antonyms

• overplacement