underhanded
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
underhanded¹
adjective more underhanded · most underhanded · under-handed
- Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below. Golf is an underhanded game, because we must swing the club in an underhanded motion in order to play the ball off the ground.
- Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating. His underhanded trick backfired and he was disqualified.
-
Insincere; sarcastic.
An underhanded compliment is actually criticism.
Similar: backhanded
-
Secret; surreptitious.
And, although the mystery of an unsigned note rather thrilled her, it seemed underhanded. And June hated underhanded things.
Similar: sneaky
-
Understaffed.
Between 9.30, when the first shot was fired, and 11.45 a.m., the enemy, well aware of his vast superiority in men — the ' Intrepid,' being, as was usual with the Company's cruisers, underhanded — made two attempts to run her on board and throw an overpowering force on the brig's decks.
Similar: underhand, understaffed
adverb more underhanded · most underhanded · under-handed
-
In an underhanded manner.
Bonino required each of us to shoot our free throws underhanded.
Similar: underhandedly
noun the underhanded · under-handed
- Devious people, collectively. We have fallen to the underhanded and label it a greater means.
underhanded²
Where it comes from
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
verb
- simple past and past participle of underhand
Translations
Every language
adj sly
| 日本語 | 卑怯な hikyouna |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | hinterhältig, hinterlistig |
| Ελληνικά | δόλιος dólios, ύπουλος ýpoulos |
| Русский | подлый podlyj |
adj sarcastic
| Deutsch | sarkastisch |
|---|---|
| Русский | саркастичный sarkastičnyj |
adj understaffed
| Deutsch | unterbesetzt |
|---|
adv in an underhand manner
| Ελληνικά | δολίως dolíos |
|---|
Talk about this word "underhanded." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/underhanded. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. underhanded. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/underhanded "underhanded." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/underhanded.Cite this
@misc{underhanded_2026,
title = {underhanded},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/underhanded},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}