underhand

[uhn-der-hand]

See more synonyms for underhand on Thesaurus.com

adjective

not open and aboveboard; secret and crafty or dishonorable: an underhand deal with the chief of police.
executed with the hand below the level of the shoulder and the palm turned upward and forward: an underhand delivery of a ball.

adverb

with the hand below the level of the shoulder and the palm turned upward and forward: to bowl underhand.
secretly; stealthily; slyly.

Origin of underhand

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

Synonyms for underhand

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1. stealthy, sly, clandestine, surreptitious.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for underhand

underhanded, clandestine, concealed, crafty, crooked, cunning, deceptive, devious, dishonest, dishonorable, duplicitous, fraudulent, furtive, hush-hush, indirect, insidious, oblique, secret, secretive, shady

Examples from the Web for underhand

Historical Examples of underhand

You know I don't want to mix myself up with your underhand dealings.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
And he recalled his own bootless wickedness and underhand intrigues.
The Fortune of the Rougons
Emile Zola
Depend upon it, there has been some underhand influence at work.
The Daltons, Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever
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

clandestine, deceptive, or secretive
sport another word for underarm

adverb

in an underhand manner or style

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.