Definitions for "Underdevelopment"
a condition in which a country has gone from a stage of UN-development to one in which it has become an economic colony of another state. Underdeveloped countries may be rich, but they serve the interests of the citizens of another state. (Contrast UNDEVELOPMENT.)
state of inadequate development; "much poverty can be traced to the underdevelopment of industry"
(photography) inadequate processing of film resulting in inadequate contrast