a statement that describes something in a way that makes it seem less important, serious, bad, etc. than it really is, or the act of making such statements保守的陈述; 轻描淡写
To say that her resignation was a shock would be an understatement - it caused panic.说她辞职令人震惊过于轻描淡写了——实际上引起了恐慌。
"It didn't go well? " "That's the understatement of the year/decade/century. It was a disaster."事情进展不顺利?“这是本年度/十年来/本世纪最温和的说法。那是场灾难。”
ADJECTIVE | PHRASESADJECTIVE➤gross, massive, vast極保守的說法◇'A little strange' is a gross understatement.“有一點兒奇怪”絕對是輕描淡寫。➤typical典型的低調說法◇with typical British understatement用典型的英國式低調說法PHRASES➤a bit of an understatement, something of an understatement有些輕描淡寫▸➤the understatement of the century, the understatement of the year (bothinformal) 本世紀/本年度最委婉的說法◇To say he wasn't amused must be the understatement of the year.說他沒有被逗樂肯定是本年度最委婉的說法。