underperforming

adjective and verb (underperform, underperforms, underperformed, underperforming)

«underperforming» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Everyday

(jargon, euphemism) doing badly; not as good as expected or needed. tree →
(finance) making less money than others. tree →

In the lessons

Managers, schools, inspectors and business news use it to describe failure in calm, technical words, avoiding «bad» or «failing». Common in official reports in all English-speaking countries.

Examples

(school report) The inspectors named three underperforming schools. tree →
(office) He was told he was underperforming and could lose his job. tree →
(news) The shares are underperforming the market. tree →
(sport) The team has been underperforming all season. tree →
(teacher, kindly) You're underperforming in maths — let's find out why. tree →
(chat) my plants are underperforming lol tree →

Note

Trap: it sounds neutral, but it can be a warning before someone is fired. «Under» + «perform». Opposite: outperforming.

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «underperforming» in the school dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«underperforming» in the school dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/underperforming/