1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

under-the-table

adjective

Definition of under-the-tablenext
as in under-the-counter

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of under-the-table Zumba allegedly asked whether the spouse would be willing to issue real, but unauthorized, ID cards for an under-the-table payment. — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 12 Feb. 2026 But while that under-the-table approach by Israel towards Hamas came crashing down with the October 7, 2023 attacks, concern still lingers in Ramallah, the headquarters of the PA , that the new technocratic committee could be another way to divide Palestinians by creating rival centers of power. — Andrew Carey, CNN Money, 18 Jan. 2026 In the meantime, many engage in under-the-table, unreliable work. — Colette Davidson, Christian Science Monitor, 23 Sep. 2025 The truth is, under the old system, plenty of elite players were there only for the under-the-table cash. — Rick Burton, Sportico.com, 21 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for under-the-table
Recent Examples of Synonyms for under-the-table
  1. under-the-counter
  2. unauthorized
  3. unsanctioned
  4. illicit
  5. unlicensed
  6. unapproved
  7. criminal
  8. contraband
Adjective
  • Behind the bar, crammed into a small station barely wide enough for one person, were two rice cookers, a combination oven, an induction burner and an under-the-counter fridge.
    — Priya Krishna, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025
  • By night, his father would lend him his binoculars to spy on women through their windows, filling in any gaps in his anatomical understanding with whatever under-the-counter girly magazines had managed to wiggle through Italy’s draconian censorship.
    — Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 4 Sep. 2024
Definition of under-the-counter
Adjective
  • The company said the model had demonstrated leaps in completing tasks, but OpenAI needed to balance that capability against unauthorized behavior.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 Sep. 2026
  • In July, Anthropic described three instances where its Claude models accessed the internet during an evaluation and gained unauthorized access to the real systems of three different organizations.
    — Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of unauthorized
Adjective
  • OpenAI had described instances where agents communicated with each other through unsanctioned message boards, uploaded files to the internet, and shared files with each other.
    — Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Prompt injection, training data poisoning, model manipulation, agent permission abuse and the leakage of sensitive information into unsanctioned tools create new exposures and expand the attack surface.
    — Rob Sloan, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of unsanctioned
Adjective
  • Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen oversaw the destruction and warned drug traffickers that authorities would step up efforts to disrupt the illicit trade.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 50 times more potent than heroin, has transformed the nation's illicit drug supply over the past decade.
    — James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of illicit
Adjective
  • The suspect shot Bilgili with an unlicensed handgun following an argument, Cumhuriyet newspaper and other outlets reported, before he was detained.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026
  • One of the biggest concerns highlighted in the latest annual report is the number of Failure to Place (FTP) episodes in 2025 where youth ended up spending the night in child welfare offices or unlicensed centers.
    — Laura Bauer, Kansas City Star, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of unlicensed
Adjective
  • Over the past two months, companies including OpenAI and Anthropic disclosed multiple incidents in which their AI agents accessed the internet when they weren't supposed to and carried out unapproved activities.
    — Katie McQue, NPR, 26 Sep. 2026
  • Kratom has gained popularity as an unapproved treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.
    — Josh Feldman, NBC news, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of unapproved
Adjective
  • Caddell remains under administration, and the criminal investigation against the company and two of its managers in Italy is continuing, prosecutors said.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Sep. 2026
  • But that shifted in recent years as criminal justice advocates called attention to the issue.
    — Ginny Monk, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of criminal
Adjective
  • Members of the board questioned the Menendez brothers during their hearing last year about violating prison rules, including using contraband cellphones.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Prior contraband attempts involved the launch of a drone from the dead end of Noe Street, just east of the facility, deputies said.
    — Paula Wethington, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of contraband

Browse Nearby Words

under the influence
under-the-table
under the weather
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Under-the-table.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/under-the-table. Accessed 2 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All