underthink

U1N1D2E1R1T1H4I1N1K5

verb

To give insufficient thought or consideration to; fail to consider adequately.

Opposite
overthink
Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbunderthink (third-person singular simple present underthinks, present participle underthinking, simple past and past participle underthought)

present singular third person underthinks · participle present underthinking · participle past underthought · past underthought

  1. To give insufficient thought or consideration to; fail to consider adequately.

    There was a new one; usually, I underthink these things.

    2007, Brian Haig, Man in the Middle
    1 more example

    This gives us plenty of opportunity to overthink — or underthink — the problem, and this is where we really start to bollix things up.

    2008, Jeffrey Kluger, Simplexity

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
overthink

Origin

From under- + think. Compare Old English underþenċan (“to look into, consider”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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