underpowered

Having insufficient power for its operation.

Adjective

  1. Having insufficient power for its operation.
    • 1925, Stewart Edward White, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, Chapter 2, […] occasionally a flap-skitter duck, making up his mind to go a-visiting, gave himself over to the serious business of flight. Flap-flap-flap, skitter,...
    • The old under-powered van ground its way very noisily and rather slowly up the long steep hill out of the town. - 1945, Neville Shute, chapter 4, in Most Secret, New York: William Morrow & Co., page 111:
    • 2023, David Shariatmadari, “‘I hope I’m wrong’: the co-founder of DeepMind on how AI threatens to reshape life as we know it,” The Guardian, 2 September, 2023, Last month he [Mustafa Suleyman] was invited to the White...
  2. Not powerful enough.
    • Wizards are underpowered even though they start off with two magic spells.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí Proto-Indo-European *-ér Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér Proto-Germanic *under Proto-West Germanic *undar Old English under- Middle English under- English under- English powered English underpowered From under- + powered.

Forms

more underpowered most underpowered

Antonyms

overpowered OP

Verb

  1. simple past and past participle of underpower

Origin

Etymology tree English underpower English -ed English underpowered From underpower + -ed.