undercurrent
Americannoun
-
a current that is not apparent at the surface or lies beneath another current
-
an opinion, emotion, etc, lying beneath apparent feeling or meaning
Usage
What is an undercurrent? An undercurrent is a flow of water or air that moves below the highest current or the surface. Undercurrent is more often used figuratively to mean a tendency underlying or at odds with what’s on the surface, as in While the two candidates smiled and shook hands, everyone in the room could feel the undercurrent of aggression between them. Example: The undercurrent at the beach today was so strong, I worried it was going to carry me out to sea!
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of undercurrent
Explanation
An undercurrent is a mood or atmosphere just below the surface, like the undercurrent of anxiety in your school during final exams. The figurative meaning of undercurrent is more common than its literal definition, "an ocean current that runs beneath the surface of the water." Another word for this kind of undercurrent is a "subsurface current." When most of us use the word undercurrent, however, we're talking about a general state of mind, something that subtly influences the way people feel, like the undercurrent of suspense running through a good horror movie.
Vocabulary lists containing undercurrent
"A Quilt of a Country," Vocabulary from the argument
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The Shining
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All My Sons
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
After all, his previous four seasons spent coaching the Trojans had been nothing short of a powder keg, filled with ups and downs, as well as a constant undercurrent of tension and uncertainty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
This is the drink I want after a long afternoon spent outside: effervescent and bright, but with an undercurrent of smoke and brine.
From Salon ● Jun. 9, 2026
A strong undercurrent of that lively book is that it’s good to be unreadable and sneaky: “I play it very loose.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
His voice - bruised, buttery and intimate - has been an inescapable undercurrent of Bollywood, narrating heartbreaks, longings and reconciliations for millions for more than a decade.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
She always said the same thing after she had an idea, and always with an undercurrent of we’re-in-this-together-and-it-might-be-dangerous: “Do you agree? Should we bag the assignment for now?”
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
“In an eventual post-crisis world, a multi- polar environment lends itself to a much more gold-positive one. Additionally, many of the undercurrents that drove gold prices higher remain intact, albeit on pause,” he added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
"In an ocean you don't see undercurrents but local people know where the undercurrents are and where avalanches go off frequently. So please always talk with local people and listen to the avalanche forecast."
From BBC ● Feb. 19, 2026
Predictably, the novel’s twin undercurrents of pride and corruption surface with fatal consequences, and the lively narrative ends as fate demands that it must.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
It’s possible to miss some of the dramatic undercurrents gripping the stock market right now by looking only at the surface.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 15, 2025
Somehow during their aimless but oh-so-significant conversation with its delicious pauses and thrilling undercurrents of emotion, they came to know that they loved each other passionately.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
