as in abyss
a social sphere that exists outside of the mainstream
a magazine article taking an insightful look at the underworld inhabited by street people
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Recent Examples of underworld
For Aronofsky, the city’s ethnic blend has no special claim on virtue; there seem to be as many criminal underworlds as there are demographic groups.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
Many newcomers have been accused of imitating jaydes and wifiskeleton, who, like XXXTentacion before them, began in the rap underworld before turning to tears-and-terror rock.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 27 Aug. 2025
This, however, is not Evangelista’s first dalliance with the criminal underworld.
—Peter White, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2025
And on the features side, a film set in the 1940s New York criminal underworld, a contemporary spy thriller and a dark comedy set on a Scottish island.
—Jenelle Riley, Variety, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underworld
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025
Many newcomers have been accused of imitating jaydes and wifiskeleton, who, like XXXTentacion before them, began in the rap underworld before turning to tears-and-terror rock.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 27 Aug. 2025
This, however, is not Evangelista’s first dalliance with the criminal underworld.
—Peter White, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2025
And on the features side, a film set in the 1940s New York criminal underworld, a contemporary spy thriller and a dark comedy set on a Scottish island.
—Jenelle Riley, Variety, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underworld
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underworld
Noun
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Reviews were mixed at the time, but that deep-dive into the widening mental abyss of a hypochondriac playwright (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) has only grown in esteem over time.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
8 Sep. 2025
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Some vociferously insist that nobody of their right mind would ever fall into the AI psychosis abyss.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Nicole finds herself in an all too familiar place for those who have experienced the early phase of young-onset neurological disease, a netherworld between acceptance and denial.—
Gus Alexiou,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
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The other two-thirds are on a scale of anxiously hopeful to beyond desperate -- an amorphous netherworld of doubt that, yes, includes the Miami Dolphins with Tua Tagovailoa, or should.—
Greg Cote,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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An ugly sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates sunk their struggling offense to new depths and at least temporarily removed Will Smith from the equation.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
6 Sep. 2025
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But those deeper water depths don’t suit shorebirds as well as waterfowl species.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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One thing was certain: Per its title, it was set in the demimonde of the galaxy far, far away, among its scoundrels, and smugglers, and bounty hunters and assorted other criminals.—
Christian Blauvelt,
IndieWire,
12 Mar. 2025
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The gumshoe’s exploits, punctuated with suspense, dark comedy and a motley cast unique to the demimonde of the Mexican capital, have been made into films and a Netflix series and translated into English and other languages.—
Patrick J. McDonnell,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Underworld.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underworld. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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