Understaffed describes a place of work that does not have enough people working in it — either fewer than it needs to do the job properly, or fewer than it would normally have. It is said about the organisation, not about the people: a hospital, a shop, a shift, a department, a school is understaffed.

Understaffed Understaffed describes a place of work that does not have enough people working in it用來形容一個工作場所裡的人手不夠 either fewer than it needs to do the job properly可能是不足以把工作做好所需要的人數 or fewer than it would normally have或是比平常應該有的人數少 It它 is said about the organisation是用來說一個機構的 not about the people而不是說裡面的人 a hospital, a shop, a shift, a department, a school is understaffed醫院、店家、一個班次、一個部門、一所學校可以是 understaffed（人手不足）

You would not call a nurse understaffed. It is nearly always used with a note of complaint or explanation behind it — it is the reason the queue is long, the reason the ward is unsafe, the reason nobody answered the phone.

You would not call a nurse understaffed你不會說一個護理師是 understaffed It它 is nearly always used with a note of complaint or explanation behind it背後幾乎都帶著抱怨或解釋的語氣 it is the reason the queue is long它是隊伍很長的原因 the reason the ward is unsafe是病房不安全的原因 the reason nobody answered the phone也是沒人接電話的原因

Because of that, it often appears in the same breath as its partner word 'overworked' ('understaffed and overworked') and with 'chronically', 'badly', 'seriously', 'dangerously'. The word usually points at management or funding rather than at bad luck: saying a place is understaffed quietly says somebody did not hire enough people.

Because of that正因如此 it often appears in the same breath as its partner word 'overworked'它常常跟它的搭檔詞「overworked（過度勞累）」一起出現 ('understaffed and overworked')像「understaffed and overworked」 and with 'chronically', 'badly', 'seriously', 'dangerously'也常常搭配「chronically（長期）」、「badly」、「seriously」、「dangerously」這些詞 The word usually points at management or funding這個詞通常指向的是管理階層或經費 rather than at bad luck而不是運氣不好 saying a place is understaffed quietly says somebody did not hire enough people說一個地方 understaffed，其實是在暗示有人沒有僱用足夠的人

Grammatically it behaves as an ordinary adjective — 'the clinic is understaffed', 'an understaffed night shift'. The related noun phrase people reach for is 'staff shortage', which is more common in headlines than the word 'understaffing'.

Grammatically it behaves as an ordinary adjective在文法上它就像一般的形容詞 'the clinic is understaffed'像「the clinic is understaffed」（這間診所人手不足） 'an understaffed night shift'或「an understaffed night shift」（人手不足的夜班） The related noun phrase people reach for大家常用的相關名詞說法是 'staff shortage'「staff shortage」（人力短缺） which is more common in headlines這個說法在標題裡比較常見 than the word 'understaffing'比「understaffing」這個詞常見