underweight
adjective, noun, verb
underweight is spelled U-N-D-E-R-W-E-I-G-H-T: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, underweight means “Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in underweight?
| Letters | 11: U-N-D-E-R-W-E-I-G-H-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is underweight?
Underweight appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce underweight?
- US
Underweight has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-underweight.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of underweight
- more underweight comparative
- most underweight superlative
- underweights plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- underweighting participle, present
- underweighted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does underweight mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Of an inappropriately or unusually low weight.
He's so underweight he's had to buy smaller clothes.
- 2
Not too heavy for an intended purpose.
The suitcase is just slightly underweight; I'll let it on the plane.
- 3
Being less invested in a particular area than market wisdom suggests.
The fund is underweight in mining.
noun
- 1
The state or quality of being underweight.
- 2
An underweight person.
- 3
An underweight investment.
verb
- 1
To underestimate the weight of.
- 2
To give insufficient weight to (a consideration); to underestimate the importance of.
- 3
To invest in less than conventional wisdom would dictate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Underweight in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | maigre |
| Spanish | con infrapeso, bajo de pesantez, con insuficiente pesadez, con demasiada poca pesadumbre, faltarle pesadura, tener excesivamente poco pesor |
| German | Untergewicht |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does underweight come from?
From under- + weight.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).