Meaning & use
under-indexing
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountabletechnical
The state of being included in a list, search result, or measurement less than expected or deserved.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun: talk about 'under-indexing of something' or 'under-indexing in a set of results'.
Patterns
- under-indexing of something
- under-indexing in something
- cause under-indexing
The report blamed the under-indexing of small websites for their low traffic.
Under-indexing in the search results meant that the article was almost impossible to find.
verbtransitive or intransitivetechnical
To include or count something less than it should be included or counted.
Grammar: Takes an object when you name the thing: under-index a page. Without an object it describes the general result: some pages simply under-index.
Patterns
- under-index something
- under-index for something
- under-index in something
The old crawler tended to under-index pages written in other languages.
If you under-index for mobile users, your site will lose visitors.
Word forms
| third person singular | under-indexes |
|---|---|
| past tense | under-indexed |
| past participle | under-indexed |
| -ing form | under-indexing |
Common combinations
- under-index for a group
- The survey seems to under-index for older voters.
- under-index in search results
- Local shops often under-index in search results.
- under-indexing of a site
- The under-indexing of the site hurt its sales.
- severely under-index
- News pages were severely under-indexed last month.
Synonyms and how they differ
- underrepresent
- Close in meaning, but it is used about people or groups in a sample or workforce, not about pages in an index.
- miss out
- An everyday, informal choice when something is simply not included; it does not suggest a measured shortfall.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: under-indexing or under-index?
under-indexing vs under-index
The verb and the noun look almost the same; use the verb after 'to' or with a subject, and the noun after words like 'the' or 'of'.
Practice
Which sentence uses the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
'The under-indexing of local news' uses the noun correctly after 'the' and before 'of'. Option An and C wrongly put the -ing form after 'to' or as a past tense, and D puts the noun where a subject and verb are needed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “under-indexing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.