Definition of "underachieve" []

• To perform worse or achieve less success than expected. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Black children underachieve, she said, "because of what the well-meaning liberal does to him"."
• ""Most of us still have the capacity to take additional actions that would improve both short-run and long-run growth prospects," and the biggest risk to the global recovery is that advanced nations underachieve on growth, Mr. Geithner said."
• "Or maybe they will continue to underachieve, because there are some deep-seated problems in San Francisco."