undermining

American  

[uhn-der-mahy-ning] / ˈʌn dərˌmaɪ nɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of injuring, attacking, or destroying something or someone indirectly or by imperceptible degrees, often leading to a dramatic collapse.

   The undermining of Scottish Gaelic as a viable language resulted not from decrees, but from a gradual weakening of independent Scottish institutions.

2. the act or process of weakening something or causing it to collapse by removing its underlying support, as by erosion.

   During the heavy rains, blocked sewers caused the flooding of the basement and the undermining of the wall by water.

3. the act of digging or tunneling underneath something, as a military stronghold.

   The siege works were now close enough to allow the undermining of some of the bastions of the fortress.

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adjective

1. weakening something or someone gradually or indirectly.

   Seating students in rows, so they cannot see each other’s faces, has an undermining effect on their engagement.

2. digging or tunneling underneath something, or removing or eroding its underlying support.

   The land along the shoreline collapsed because of undermining waves and currents.

Other Word Forms

• underminingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of undermining

First recorded in 1350–1400; undermin(e) ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun senses; undermin(e) ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses

Example Sentences

He said Israeli authorities "cannot be unaware" of what cargo was inside vessels arriving at their country's ports, and warned that their failure to prevent the grain shipments was undermining bilateral relations.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

But Google hit back, saying that the "unwarranted intervention" risks "unnecessarily driving up costs while undermining critical privacy and security protections for European users."

From Barron's • Apr. 27, 2026

That said, a few words readily available would help connect the dots without undermining the provocation.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

The leak is a blow for Anthropic because it risks both undermining its reputation for safety and also revealing valuable trade secrets in the pitched battle for enterprise customers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

Whoever did this had wanted only to unmask me without my permission, to humiliate me by intentionally undermining a decision I’d made to keep some parts of me for just myself.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi

Related Words

• subversion