underperform
verb
un·der·per·form
ˌən-dər-pər-ˈfȯrm 
-pə-ˈfȯrm
underperformed; underperforming; underperforms
: to do worse than
… it believes the company will underperform other relatives covered by the firm …—
Jim Milliot
Jim Milliot
: to fail to do as well as expected
The stocks underperformed.
underperformer
noun
Examples of underperform in a Sentence
The report shows which schools are underperforming.
Recent Examples on the Web
Shares have traded flat in the year to date, underperforming the overall market as investors express doubts that Apple can pull off its ambitious push into artificial intelligence, particularly amid an ongoing memory supply crunch.
—Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 1 May 2026
This team, one with postseason ambitions, has underperformed.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
Tom Steyer, despite being a Democratic front-runner, underperformed by becoming bogged down in policy minutiae about oil refineries and failing to produce any memorable soundbites beyond his closing statement.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
In its earlier days, The Boys might have done something with how Nanjiani’s Eternals and Rogen’s The Green Hornet both underperformed, and the Kick-Ass movies in which Mintz-Plasse played a villain left little cultural footprint.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for underperform
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Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 1 May 2026
This team, one with postseason ambitions, has underperformed.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
Tom Steyer, despite being a Democratic front-runner, underperformed by becoming bogged down in policy minutiae about oil refineries and failing to produce any memorable soundbites beyond his closing statement.
—Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
In its earlier days, The Boys might have done something with how Nanjiani’s Eternals and Rogen’s The Green Hornet both underperformed, and the Kick-Ass movies in which Mintz-Plasse played a villain left little cultural footprint.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 29 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for underperform
Cite this Entry
“Underperform.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underperform. Accessed 5 May. 2026.
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