Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

underhand

[uhn-der-hand]
See more synonyms for underhand on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. not open and aboveboard; secret and crafty or dishonorable: an underhand deal with the chief of police.
  2. executed with the hand below the level of the shoulder and the palm turned upward and forward: an underhand delivery of a ball.
Show More
adverb
  1. with the hand below the level of the shoulder and the palm turned upward and forward: to bowl underhand.
  2. secretly; stealthily; slyly.
Show More

Origin of underhand

before 900; 1530–40 for def 1; Middle English under hande (adv.) under rule, Old English underhand. See under-, hand

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. stealthy, sly, clandestine, surreptitious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

underhandedclandestineconcealedcraftycrookedcunningdeceptivedeviousdishonestdishonorableduplicitousfraudulentfurtivehush-hushindirectinsidiousobliquesecretsecretiveshady

Examples from the Web for underhand

Historical Examples

  • And he recalled his own bootless wickedness and underhand intrigues.

    The Fortune of the Rougons

    Emile Zola

  • You know I don't want to mix myself up with your underhand dealings.

  • Depend upon it, there has been some underhand influence at work.

  • If punished, he would continue his misdeeds in an underhand way.

    Criminal Man

    Gina Lombroso-Ferrero

  • Underhand, clandestine information you get is no more than dishonesty on your part.

    Dollars and Sense

    Col. Wm. C. Hunter

British Dictionary definitions for underhand

underhand

adjective Also: underhanded
  1. clandestine, deceptive, or secretive
  2. sport another word for underarm
Show More
adverb
  1. in an underhand manner or style
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for underhand

adv.

Old English under hand "in subjection," from under + hand. Sense of "secret, stealthy, surreptitious" first recorded 1530s. For sense development, cf. Middle Dutch onderhanden "by degrees, slowly," Dutch onderhandsch "secret, private." The adjective is attested from 1540s.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper