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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR underhand ON THESAURUS.COM

1. stealthy, sly, clandestine, surreptitious.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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

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.
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.