The story
From under- + whelm: a humorous coinage by novel negation of overwhelm first recorded in the 1950s.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
underwhelm
Today it means: To fail to impress; to perform disappointingly. Full definition →
Today it means: To fail to impress; to perform disappointingly. Full definition →
From under- + whelm: a humorous coinage by novel negation of overwhelm first recorded in the 1950s.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.