underfull

U1N1D2E1R1F4U1L1L1

adjective

Not full enough; not filled to available capacity.

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 13

Meanings

underfull1

adjectiveunderfull (comparative more underfull, superlative most underfull)

comparative more underfull · superlative most underfull

  1. Not full enough; not filled to available capacity.

    Commands forcing a figure in a particular place may create underfull pages […]

    2012, Bernice S. Lipkin, LaTeX for Linux: A Vade Mecum, page 68
    1 more example

    A bucket is underfull when it contains less than m/2 points. We allow at most one underfull bucket in a group. If there are two underfull buckets in a group, we merge them […]

    2014, Inge Li Gørtz, R. Ravi, Algorithm Theory - SWAT 2014: 14th Scandinavian Symposium

underfull2

noununderfull (plural underfulls)

plural underfulls

  1. card gamesA full house that is beaten by someone else's full house.

    […] let's say the flop comes 9-9-8, with the open pair on top. One player has J-T-9-8 for the overfull—9s full of 8s for the nut full house—while another player has 8-8-7-6 for 8s full of 9s and the "underfull". The player with the underfull is both getting smashed and drawing dead.

    2008, Jeff Hwang, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy, Kensington Publishing Corp., →ISBN, page 5

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite

Origin

underfull · adjective

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Englishfull
  13. Englishunderfull

From under- + full.

Full word history & related roots →

underfull · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁entér
  3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂én
  4. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-?
  5. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰí
  6. Proto-Indo-European*(H)n̥dʰér
  7. Proto-Germanic*under
  8. Proto-West Germanic*undar
  9. Old Englishunder-
  10. Middle Englishunder-
  11. Englishunder-
  12. Englishfull house
  13. Englishunderfull

From under- + full house.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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