This is the second time I've seen "understated" (mis)used that way recently. I am afraid this may be a trend, like the appearance in the world of "irregardless," which is becoming an accepted word, or the use of "literally," which used to mean, er, "literally," and now can be acceptably used in situations where it is figurative. Or the use of "there's" when there are more than one entity being referred to and "there're" would have been used in the good old days (which I remember because I'm 67).