To assign a date that is earlier than the actual or intended date, often done to falsely imply an action happened sooner than it did. This practice might be employed to gain a competitive advantage, circumvent a deadline, or create a false impression of priority or seniority. The act of underdating inherently involves misrepresentation of temporal sequence and can have legal and ethical implications, particularly in situations involving contracts, historical records, or financial transactions. The intention is generally one of deceit, or at least deception.
Underdate meaning with examples
- The company's documents were underdated by several months to make it appear their product launch preceded a competitor's, giving them an unfair advantage in the market. This deceptive act allowed them to falsely claim market leadership and potentially gain investors.
- To avoid late fees, the contract was cleverly underdated with the signature appearing a day before the actual signing, creating a false record of the date of agreement and thereby satisfying the contractual deadline.
- The historian discovered that some official correspondence was suspiciously underdated. Investigation showed that the aim was to establish a timeline which favored a particular political faction during a crucial historical event, a clear abuse of trust.
- The software update was underdated on its release, a tactic employed by a dishonest software developer to mislead potential users into thinking the product had already been in use for an extended amount of time, raising its attractiveness.