underworld
Americannoun
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the criminal element of human society.
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the imagined abode of departed souls or spirits; Hades.
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a region below the surface, as of the earth or a body of water.
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the opposite side of the earth; the antipodes.
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Archaic. the earth.
noun
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criminals and their associates considered collectively
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( as modifier )
underworld connections
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the regions below the earth's surface regarded as the abode of the dead; Hades
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of underworld
Vocabulary lists containing underworld
Reading: Literature - Mythology - Introductory
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Reading: Literature - Mythology - Middle School
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Ancient Greece: Mythology and Literature - Middle School
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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:
Capp notes, "Even in London's seedy underworld, a hat felt essential."
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2026
In the underworld of social media they are now arguing among themselves.
From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026
Yet before she can truly represent both the queen of the underworld and goddess of spring, Moreno must first survive the gauntlet that is the New York winter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
At least three high-level operatives would likely race for the throne of Oseguera’s underworld empire, said U.S. authorities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 24, 2026
In Homer the underworld is vague, a shadowy place inhabited by shadows.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
“This latest action marks a significant escalation in the partnership between the cyber underworlds of these two nations,” Chainalysis said on its blog.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 18, 2023
Globally, assorted gods have patrolled assorted underworlds for millennia, with death as their gloomy guard duty.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2022
The “Uncut Gems” creators, Josh and Benny Safdie, are known for their merciless filmmaking style, made up of seedy underworlds and populated with first-time actors cast off the street.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2019
Ancient heroes who wished to grasp the truth of things had to pass through underworlds, or dwell in caves; sometimes, like Oedipus, they could see clearly only once they had been blinded.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 15, 2018
He told of the strange underworlds hidden from the casual eye, of subterranean rivers of life which Respectability never sees.
From Stories from Everybody's Magazine by Various
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.
