underdog

noun

un·​der·​dog ˈən-dər-ˌdȯg 

1

: a loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest

… the biggest obstacle has been the adjustment from underdog last season to contender …

—Mike Wise

2

: a victim of injustice or persecution

… portrayed himself as an honest underdog that the Government would do anything to stop.

—Michael Specter

Examples of underdog in a Sentence

I always root for the underdog instead of the favorite.

As a lawyer, she consistently represented the underdog.

Recent Examples on the Web

The race to defeat Hyde-Smith is not a must-win for Democrats to retake the Senate and Colom remains an underdog in deep red Mississippi. — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 12 Oct. 2026

But these guys had their own uniquely Irish sense of lyricism, absurdist humor, and underdog spirit. — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 12 Oct. 2026

Social Circle was a 22-point underdog in the computer Maxwell Ratings. — Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Once the underdog, signed as an insurance policy before training camp in 2025, Dobbins must morph into a Great Dane. — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 10 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for underdog

• analog
• analogue
• catalogue
• decalogue
• demagogue
• dialogue
• epilogue
• homologue
• monologue
• pedagogue
• synagogue
• tagalog

Kids Definition

underdog

noun

un·​der·​dog ˈən-dər-ˌdȯg 

: the loser or predicted loser in a struggle