Words / U / General

underpin

verb/ˌʌndəˈpɪn/

B2CEFR level
40/100Rarity: uncommon
FormalRegister

To provide the theoretical or evidential foundation on which something rests.

A constructivist view of learning underpins the whole of the study's design.

Similar: support, underlie

Topic: Academic writing in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Academic writing