underenforce

U1N1D2E1R1E1N1F4O1R1C3E1

verb

To enforce inadequately.

Opposite
overenforce
Scrabble 18
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Meanings

verbunderenforce (third-person singular simple present underenforces, present participle underenforcing, simple past and past participle underenforced)

present singular third person underenforces · participle present underenforcing · participle past underenforced · past underenforced

  1. transitiveTo enforce inadequately.

    But effective laws, already on the books, are pitifully underenforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.

    2009 September 24, “How to Stop Contaminating the Water”, in The New York Times
    1 more example

    I don’t know if it’s underenforcing or overenforcing the law. But, at least in the data, we see that Black officers are less likely to make a drug arrest than the others.

    2020 June 12, Kate Waldock and Luigi Zingales, “Should we defund the police?”, in Capitalisn't

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
overenforce

Origin

From under- + enforce.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

underenforce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underenforce

MLA

“underenforce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underenforce. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “underenforce,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underenforce.

Source: underenforce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.