underworld

[ uhn-der-wurld ]

noun

1. the criminal element of human society.
2. the imagined abode of departed souls or spirits; Hades.
3. a region below the surface, as of the earth or a body of water.
4. the opposite side of the earth; the antipodes.
5. Archaic. the earth.

underworld

/ ˈʌndəˌwɜːld /

noun

1. 1. criminals and their associates considered collectively
   2. ( as modifier )

      underworld connections

2. the regions below the earth's surface regarded as the abode of the dead; Hades

Word History and Origins

Origin of underworld¹

First recorded in 1600–10; under- + world

Example Sentences

After some rough-and-tumble adventuring in the underworld, you’ll feel like new.

From Washington Post

For a previous book, Faleiro immersed herself in the underworld of Mumbai’s secret dance bars.

From Washington Post

One is the living world, and the other is an underworld filled with death, and Marianne walks through both simultaneously.

From Washington Post

One will examine how academics get their information and research about violence and the criminal underworld.

From Voice of San Diego

Hundreds of underworld figures from across the former Soviet empire attended the funeral, including four crime bosses from Azerbaijan.

From Ozy

We all knew there were mobsters in the record industry, but this is some very serious underworld stuff.

From The Daily Beast

Rick flees the underworld, in this case the prison, and returns to the world as a hero.

From The Daily Beast

For most heroes, the second cycle of the monomyth involves a physical journey into the underworld.

From The Daily Beast

In actuality, an encounter with a goddess of the underworld is another step in the second cycle of the monomyth.

From The Daily Beast

Gotham may mature into a thrilling mystery that explores corrupt cops and the seedy underworld.

From The Daily Beast

In his efforts to clear himself, the young cop had taken half a dozen lead slugs from underworld guns into his body.

From Project Gutenberg

It was then that Black Hood got one of those sudden inspirations which had made him the underworld's most capable adversary.

From Project Gutenberg

Vergil tells us that a special punishment in the underworld awaited the patron who defrauded a client.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Underworld the devil serpent Apep was spat upon to curse it, as was also its waxen image which the priests fashioned.

From Project Gutenberg

It could not be Underworld jargon; it was too direct and at the same time too picturesque.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• gangland
• mob
• organized crime
• syndicate