underachiever

English

Alternative forms

• under-achiever

Etymology

From underachieve +‎ -er or under- +‎ achiever.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

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Noun

underachiever (plural underachievers)

1. One who underachieves, i.e. performs less well than expected. [from 1950s]

   Antonym: overachiever

   • 1990 September 23, Wendy Doniger, “Why the Body Is Disgusting”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     Woody Allen has provided what is probably the best theological answer to the problem of evil: God is not evil; He is just an underachiever.

   • 2000, “Skinner's Sense of Snow”, in The Simpsons, season 12 (television production):

     Bart: (reading his permanent record) "Underachiever and proud of it." How old is this thing?

   • 2005 November 3, Ned Martel, “The Unlikely Progress of a Barely Motivated Underachiever”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     For the TLC undertaking, he employs only underachievers, cronies who have been hired for their ability to make the work site madcap and, therefore, filmable.

   • 2010, “Doin' It Again”, in How I Got Over, performed by The Roots:

     This unsung, underrated, under-appreciated / The one them underachievers had underestimated / Finally graduated, I'm one of the most hated

Translations

one who underachieves

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 后进生 (hòujìnshēng)

• Finnish: alisuorittaja
• German: Minderleister (de) m, Minderleisterin (de) f
• Icelandic: fúx m, bekkjarlalli m
• Spanish: sublogrador, infralogrador

Further reading

• underachiever on Wikipedia.Wikipedia