underrecruit

U1N1D2E1R1R1E1C3R1U1I1T1

verb

To recruit to less than the normal or preferable degree

“We're concerned that the military is underrecruiting.”

OriginEnglish recruit ← Middle English under- ← Old English under- →
Scrabble 15
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbunderrecruit (third-person singular simple present underrecruits, present participle underrecruiting, simple past and past participle underrecruited)

present singular third person underrecruits · participle present underrecruiting · participle past underrecruited · past underrecruited

  1. To recruit to less than the normal or preferable degree

    We're concerned that the military is underrecruiting.

    1 more example

    "When an underrecruited player succeeds at a place like Utah, the schedule makes a difference, coaching makes a difference."

    2009 January 1, Ray Glier, “Polished Treasures Guide Utah to Sugar Bowl”, in New York Times

Origin

  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. Englishrecruit
  13. Englishunderrecruit

From under- + recruit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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