Understatement is a type of statement that is much less forceful than what is accurate. Understatement is a figurative language technique. It is like hyperbole, but the opposite. Hyperbole means to exaggerate or go well beyond literal reality, whereas understatement goes under it. Let's take a closer look at these words: Understatement Using much less […]
For example, you win 10 million dollars in a lottery. When you tell a news reporter “I am delighted,” you are making an understatement. Similarly, suppose a team loses to its opponent 50 to 0 in a soccer match, and the captain of the team says in a post-match ceremony, “We did not do well,” it is an understatement because he is trying to decrease the intensity of the loss.
Understatement is the deliberate description of something in a way that makes it seem less important than it actually is.Understatement can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often it is done to create irony.. Understatement is the opposite of hyperbole, which is deliberate exaggeration.
Examples of Understatement. An understatement is when you represent something as less than what it is. This can be done in writing or in speech. When you make an understatement, the issue at hand is minimalized or made to seem less important or severe. This can be done for an ironic effect or simply to be polite.
Understatements are also found in poetry and literature. An understatement plays with the readers expectations—downplaying a situation when the reader might imagine a more intense response. Some examples include:
Describing a huge storm overnight, a comedic understatement would be: "Looks like it rained a bit last night."
Referring to Oprah Winfrey, a comedic understatement would be: "She has some money."
You can often find the use of understatements in songs. Artists use understatements to make light of a situation or for rhetorical or ironic effect. Some examples of understatements used in songs include:
Not matter what the type, the reason they are used is the same: to make something seem less than it really is. There are several different types of understatements, such as: Comedic: This type of understatement adds humor to an otherwise serious situation .
As you can see, anything that is made less important than it really is can be identified as an understatement. Exaggerations or hyperbole and overstatements are the complete opposite, where something is blown out of proportion. Understatements are sometimes not well defined and are subtly said to another person out of rhetoric. Often times, the response to one is "Well, that is an understatement!"
When it's used ironically, understatement can be an effective way of creating humor and adding depth to a text. It can also serve to emphasize exactly the thing being understated, through the juxtaposition of the literal meaning and the actual meaning.
What is understatement? Here’s a quick and simple definition: Understatement is a figure of speech in which something is expressed less strongly than would be expected, or in which something is presented as being smaller, worse, or lesser than it really is.
Litotes is a specific type of understatement in which an idea or sentiment is expressed ironically by negating a statement to the contrary. For example:
This example is ironic because there's a gap between what the captain says and what he obviously means—which is not simply that there is a "small problem" which should not cause the passengers "too much distress," but that everyone's lives are in danger and their distress is presumably overwhelming. Although the humor of his understatement was probably lost on his panicking passengers, understatement that's intended to be comedic (or, as in this case, provide comic relief) is almost always ironic.
The opposite of understatement is overstatement, in which a statement is made with more strength than is actually warranted.
Here's how to pronounce understatement: un -der-state-ment
Understatement is generally intended to be humorous.
Examples of Understatement. An understatement is when you represent something as less than what it is. This can be done in writing or in speech. When you make an understatement, the issue at hand is minimalized or made to seem less important or severe. This can be done for an ironic effect or simply to be polite.
Understatements are also found in poetry and literature. An understatement plays with the readers expectations—downplaying a situation when the reader might imagine a more intense response. Some examples include:
Describing a huge storm overnight, a comedic understatement would be: "Looks like it rained a bit last night."
Referring to Oprah Winfrey, a comedic understatement would be: "She has some money."
You can often find the use of understatements in songs. Artists use understatements to make light of a situation or for rhetorical or ironic effect. Some examples of understatements used in songs include:
Not matter what the type, the reason they are used is the same: to make something seem less than it really is. There are several different types of understatements, such as: Comedic: This type of understatement adds humor to an otherwise serious situation .
As you can see, anything that is made less important than it really is can be identified as an understatement. Exaggerations or hyperbole and overstatements are the complete opposite, where something is blown out of proportion. Understatements are sometimes not well defined and are subtly said to another person out of rhetoric. Often times, the response to one is "Well, that is an understatement!"