undernutrition

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noun

Inadequate nutrition, either due to a lack of food, or to the inability of the body to absorb its nutrients.

Opposite
overnutrition
UncommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounundernutrition (uncountable)
  1. uncountableInadequate nutrition, either due to a lack of food, or to the inability of the body to absorb its nutrients.

    Researchers exploring paleosyndemics […] offer new ways to interpret co-occurring diseases such as leprosy and plague epidemics in medieval Europe, or the relationship between mal- or undernutrition and infectious disease, or socio-economic oppression and chronic disease.

    2023, Anne L. Grauer, “Introduction” (chapter 1), in The Routledge Handbook of Paleopathology, Routledge, →DOI, →ISBN, page 7

    Antonyms: overnutrition

Synonyms & antonyms

nounInadequate nutrition, either due to a lack of food, or to the inability of the body to absorb its nutrients.

Opposite
overnutrition

Origin

From under- + nutrition.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish aliravitsemus
  • aliravitsemusinadequate nutrition
Polish niedożywienie
  • niedożywienieinadequate nutrition
Spanish desnutrición
  • desnutricióninadequate nutrition
Cite this entry
APA

undernutrition. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undernutrition

MLA

“undernutrition.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undernutrition. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “undernutrition,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/undernutrition.

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