Undersaving

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The act of putting aside an insufficient amount of money for future needs
2. Setting aside fewer funds than necessary to meet upcoming financial goals
3. Failing to accumulate enough savings to adequately prepare for future expenses

Etymology: "Undersaving" is simply the present participle and gerund of "undersave," a compound formed by attaching the prefix "under-" to "save." The prefix carries its ordinary sense of "below" or "insufficiently," so the whole word means to save less than is needed or expected. Both parts have long pedigrees. "Under" descends from an ancient Germanic root that English has used since Old English, while "save" came into English through Old French "sauver," which in turn comes from Latin "salvare," meaning to make safe or preserve, itself built from "salvus," meaning whole or unhurt. So the word's core idea is keeping something intact and out of harm's way, here applied to money set aside for later.

Synonyms: saving insufficiently, saving less

Antonyms: oversaving, saving excessively