underlying

[uhn-der-lahy-ing]

adjective

1. lying or situated beneath, as a substratum.

2. fundamental; basic.

   the underlying cause of their discontent.

3. implicit; discoverable only by close scrutiny or analysis.

   an underlying seriousness in his witticisms.

4. (of a claim, mortgage, etc.) taking precedence; anterior; prior.

5. Linguistics.,  belonging to an earlier stage in the transformational derivation of a sentence or other structure; belonging to the deep structure.

underlying

/ ˌʌndəˈlaɪɪŋ /

adjective

1. concealed but detectable

   underlying guilt

2. fundamental; basic

3. lying under

4. finance (of a claim, liability, etc) taking precedence; prior

Word History and Origins

Origin of underlying¹

First recorded in 1605–15; underlie + -ing ²

Example Sentences

The changes made by the OBR to the UK's underlying rate of growth could add considerably to the gap in the public finances Reeves has to bridge in the Budget.

From BBC

Expressing caution about whether this can be achieved, Campbell tells the BBC: "It's all good saying Zimbabwe is open for business but the underlying fundamentals need to be correct."

From BBC

But the fact Harris chose to include that anecdote speaks to the tetchiness underlying the warmth and fuzziness that California’s two most prominent Democrats put on public display.

From Los Angeles Times

The indictment against Comey is just two pages long and comes with little information, making it difficult to assess the strength of the accusations or underlying evidence.

From BBC

Much is depending on the OBR's expected downgrade to the underlying long-term performance of the economy, or productivity.

From BBC

Related Words

• basic 
• elemental 
• hidden 

When To Use

What does underlying mean?

Underlying most literally means situated underneath—lying under something, as in We have to fix the underlying layer before repairing the surface.Underlying perhaps most commonly means fundamental or basic. This sense of the word is used to describe things that are the basis, foundation, or cause of something else. A person’s underlying beliefs are their most essential beliefs, the ones that all their other beliefs, opinions, or values are based on. A single, underlying issue may be the basis of many other problems. Symptoms are caused by an underlying condition or disease.Less commonly, underlying can be used to describe something that lies beneath in a figurative way, especially something that’s difficult to detect because it’s partially hidden, such as underlying guilt or the underlying theme of a poem.Underlying is also the continuous tense (ing- form) of the verb underlie, meaning to literally lie beneath or to be the basis or foundation of, as in This is the main problem that underlies all the other issues. In a financial context, underlying is used more narrowly as a way of indicating what came first or what has precedence, such as in things like mortgages or insurance claims.Example: We are still working to determine the underlying cause of the collapse.