1
as in fraudulent
given to or marked by cheating and deception
willing to stoop to underhand methods in order to win
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clandestine
undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others
the congressman's underhand attempt to slip several pork barrel items into the bill
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in underhanded
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Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of underhand
Anthony Gharib, USA TODAY, 13 June 2023
Pitchers tossed underhand and no one wore gloves yet, resulting in smarting pain in the hands of catchers and first basemen.
—Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, 29 Mar. 2023
Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2025
Baseball pitchers throw the ball overhand, whereas softball pitchers have an underhand delivery.
—Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underhand
Adjective
Each team will alternate tossing the bean bag underhand onto the board until all four bean bags are thrown.
—Anthony Gharib, USA TODAY, 13 June 2023
Pitchers tossed underhand and no one wore gloves yet, resulting in smarting pain in the hands of catchers and first basemen.
—Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, 29 Mar. 2023
Adverb
Her explosive personality and underhand tactics constantly antagonize Jenny, a down-to-earth woman who’s more or less content staying in her small hometown despite often being treated like an outsider.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 8 May 2025
Baseball pitchers throw the ball overhand, whereas softball pitchers have an underhand delivery.
—Rick Mauch, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underhand
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underhand
Adjective
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Jones was charged with three felonies — theft of a credit card, criminal use of personal identification information, and fraudulent use of a credit card over two times within six months, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.—
Angel Saunders,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
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Candidates flagged for fraudulent behavior had a 27% lower quality of hire than their honest peers, according to the same study.—
Michael Fitzsimmons,
Forbes.com,
8 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Party leaders could reveal what their rivals were cooking up and reporters could penetrate clandestine deal-making through sources.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
15 Aug. 2025
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Nic Carter, a crypto venture capitalist, then coined the term Operation Choke Point 2.0, referring to an Obama administration clandestine operation to debank undesirable industries including firearms dealers and payday lenders in the early 2010s.—
Billy Bambrough,
Forbes.com,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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These emails are loaded with deceptive links that lead to malware infections, and the consequences can be severe.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Aug. 2025
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Match Group, the parent company of Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, and PlentyOfFish, has agreed to pay $14 million to settle a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about deceptive advertising practices.—
Chris Morris,
Fortune,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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In it, deaf canteen employee Alison Brooks (Rose Ayling-Ellis) lands an under-the-table gig as a covert lip reader for the police and finagles her way into the apex of an upcoming heist operation.—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
1 Aug. 2025
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Reports have long suggested that Iran has increasingly engaged in covert malign behavior to target foreign citizens.—
Caitlin McFall,
FOXNews.com,
31 July 2025
Adjective
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On bright sunny days in summer, look for a shady place where light intensity is reduced.—
Anthony A. Ciuffa,
Outdoor Life,
7 Aug. 2025
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Once they’ve been admitted, users have access to profiles of men annotated with information such as background checks and dating reviews; men with shady dating histories are rated with red flags.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The radio-wavelength image shows that the black hole’s jet is not straight, but is crooked with three distinct bends.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
1 Aug. 2025
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In one image, Scales, who had won a Military Cross for his bravery at the front, wears a crooked grimace that suggests recent anguish.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
13 July 2025
Adjective
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He is aided by Yasir Abbas, a weapons specialist; Raghuveer Singh, a sniper who served in Kashmir and Tawang; Uday Bhan, an explosives expert; and Sukhbir Singh, an Indian agent undercover in Pakistan posing as a Karachi stockbroker.—
Time,
Time,
13 Aug. 2025
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Wednesday’s hearing before Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins in downtown Minneapolis focused on several motions from Eichorn, including one to drop the charges and for the defense to be able to call the undercover officer who posed as a 17-year-old girl to testify.—
Mary Murphy,
Twin Cities,
6 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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At the heart of Trump’s complaints is a familiar refrain: The media is not only biased, but dishonest, corrupt and dangerous.—
Stephanie A,
The Conversation,
4 Aug. 2025
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So, in that moment, the things that are coming out of my mouth are not dishonest.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
22 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Underhand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underhand. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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