underattribute

== English == === Etymology === From under- +‎ attribute. === Pronunciation === === Verb === underattribute (third-person singular simple present underattributes, present participle underattributing, simple past and past participle underattributed) (transitive) To attribute insufficiently or inadequately. To underestimate the role of some specified factors in causing (a particular outcome, action, or state of affairs). To tend to mistakenly believe that (a certain quality) is not present when, in fact, it is. To misattribute a work of art by asserting that the artist is a less renowned one than it actually is. Antonym: overattribute ==== Usage notes ==== While this verb is marked as transitive, because it always has an object, in some cases the object is implied rather than stated. For example, in the quote given above: "Women who have personal difficulty in handling aggressive impulses are more extreme than others in their judgments of hostility in film characters — some underattribute and others overattribute." Hostility is the object of underattribute. ==== Derived terms ==== underattribution