underhand
pronunciation
How to pronounce underhand in British English:
UK [ˌʌndəˈhænd]
How to pronounce underhand in American English:
US [ˌʌndərˈhænd]
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- Adjective:
- with hand brought forward and up from below shoulder level
- marked by deception
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- Adverb:
- slyly and secretly
- with the hand swung below shoulder level'
Word Origin
- underhand (adv.)
- mid-14c., "by secret means, stealthily, in a surreptitious manner," from under + hand (n.). Perhaps the notion is of the hand turned over (thus concealing what it holds). Compare Middle Dutch onderhanden "by degrees, slowly," Dutch onderhandsch "secret, private." The adjective is attested from 1540s. Old English under hand meant "in subjection, in (one's) control or power."
Example
- 1. Olympic bar bent over rows underhand .
- 2. To betray or attempt to defeat by underhand means .
- 3. Oh , it 's nothing underhand , he assured me .
- 4. The missionaries have now resurfaced with their latest underhand tactics .
- 5. Most managers who find themselves in charge of someone they can 't stand engage in something more underhand .