UNDERLAIN Synonyms: 47 Similar and Opposite Words

underlain

verb

past participle of underlie

as in supported

to lie underneath A layer of rock underlies the topsoil.

Related Words

Relevance

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

Verb

Historically, the Ford Foundation supported civil rights lawsuits beginning in the late 1960s and helped build public interest law into a field of its own.

— Sydney Lake, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
Du Halgouët said the region’s performance was supported by retail sales at its own-brand stores, while the company’s focus on higher-value products, particularly leather goods and jewelry, helped cushion the decline.

— Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of supported

Verb

Already offputting, Reid’s performance of Rapp’s dawning realizations — flipping from dismissive skepticism to feverish belief with little in between — grows less grounded by the minute.

— Alison Herman, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026
Witty, bitter, flamboyant, and emotionally grounded, the dialogue swings, delightfully, between intimate exchanges and grandiloquent soliloquies, capturing the vulnerability of idealists in the face of evil.

— Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of grounded

Verb

Neither party appears to have established much credibility with independent voters on the issue.

— Will Johnson, Time, 21 Oct. 2026
The agency was established in 2021 to make sure electrical utilities work to reduce the risk of wildfires caused by their equipment.

— Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of established

Verb

During captive-carry testing, engineers can assess equipment carried by an aircraft before proceeding to more demanding flight demonstrations.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026
The starting five that carried Atlanta to the playoffs last season — Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, CJ McCollum and Onyeka Okongwu — returns.

— Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of carried

Verb

The platform is based on feedback from 700+ members across 40 states, co-founder Zamaan Qureshi said.

— Ashley Gold, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Ding was charged in 2024 with stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets from Google while secretly working with two companies based in China.

— ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of based

Verb

And the Starshield throttling — which apparently is still in effect — has doubtless reinforced the nation's desire to control its own satellite-communications infrastructure.

— Mike Wall, Space.com, 22 Oct. 2026
Crews excavated an 8-acre basin in the infield to serve as a holding pond, while contractors rebuilt the culverts under the track and reinforced the road leading into it.

— Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of reinforced

Verb

Their attempt was predicated on some amount of technology innovation.

— Nilay Patel, The Verge, 17 Oct. 2026
Part of the Blue Island discourse was predicated on the language some Black artists sometimes use to express their frustration around their art being inaccurately labeled.

— Kyle Denis, Billboard, 12 Oct. 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

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Underlain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underlain. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of underlain

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

emissary

Popular in Grammar & Usage

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

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

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

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes