underwrite
verb
Simple meaning
To agree to pay by signing one's name.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhnderrytSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʌndɚɹaɪt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
Specifically, to assume financial responsibility for something, and guarantee it against failure.
transitive
To support, lend support to, guarantee the basis of.
transitive
To agree to pay by signing one's name; subscribe.
Guarantee financial support of
transitive
To sign; to put one's name to.
transitive
To write below or under; subscribe.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Specifically, to assume financial responsibility for something, and guarantee it against failure.
Used this way, underwrite is a specialist word with a clearly unfavourable pull. This is a financial use: it has a settled meaning in accounting and business, where precision matters more than colour.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Clinical and detached
Where it naturally appears
- Finance/economics
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A banker who deals chiefly in underwriting new securities.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A financial institution that sells insurance.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: specifically or to assume financial responsibility for something
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.