underlain

verb

past participle of underlie
1
as in supported
to lie underneath A layer of rock underlies the topsoil.

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2
as in grounded
to form the basis or foundation of (something, such as an idea) The assumption that underlies their argument is faulty.

Related Words

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for underlain
  1. supported
  2. grounded
  3. upheld
  4. established
  5. carried
  6. based
  7. reinforced
  8. predicated
Verb
  • The Duke and Duchess of Sussex supported their friend David Foster at his event celebrating 40 years of fundraising for the David Foster Foundation.
    — Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Regular physical activity is one of the strongest interventions supported by research.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2026
Definition of supported
Verb
  • This week brought me from Belgian Gothic seminaries to Victorian mansions, with a few aggressively average $4,700 apartments sprinkled among them to keep us grounded.
    — Nora DeLigter, Curbed, 7 Aug. 2026
  • After the Challenger disaster, the shuttle program was grounded for two years.
    — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of grounded
Verb
  • Florida Crystals consistently rejected those criticisms, saying the company complied with environmental regulations, invested heavily in conservation and upheld labor standards.
    — Luisa Yanez, Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Wilken found Cousins’ reasoning acceptable and thus upheld his order.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of upheld
Verb
  • The fire has grown by only 2 acres since Monday, and fire lines are being established on the three fires that make up the Spokane Complex.
    — Morgan Chesky, NBC news, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Officials reported Wednesday that firefighters had established containment lines around the perimeters of all three fires affecting Spokane and that they were focused on reinforcing those lines.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of established
Verb
  • Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016, lost it in 2020 and then won it again in 2024.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Each would be carried by more than 1,000 newspapers (some, such as the Tribune for a time, carried both) and eventually each claimed 90 million daily readers worldwide.
    — Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of carried
Verb
  • The government program can still award broadband grants based on factors such as income, age, and disability.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Indeed, in retrospect, the ruling at The Hague a decade ago was the harbinger of a new global order — one based not on rules, norms, and conventions but, increasingly, raw power wielded by the strong against the weak.
    — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of based
Verb
  • Following those incidents, the museum reinforced its security systems this past spring, notably with the installation of more cameras.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 7 Aug. 2026
  • This view is reinforced somewhat by federal data on job vacancies.
    — Harry Holzer, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of reinforced
Verb
  • So our business is not predicated on moving console players immediately over to cloud or getting people to get rid of their gaming PCs.
    — Jennifer Maas, Variety, 23 July 2026
  • But Kane’s game was never predicated on speed, but rather his hockey IQ, his anticipation and his singular creativity that made him seemingly every great player’s favorite player growing up.
    — Scott Powers, New York Times, 23 July 2026
Definition of predicated
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.

Browse Nearby Words

underhandedness
underlain
underlay
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Cite this Entry

“Underlain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underlain. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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