Word.ws English Dictionary

subterranean

Syllables: sub·ter·ra·ne·an/ˌsʌbtəˈɹeɪniən/

subterranean adjective: below ground, under the earth, underground.

Adjective

subterranean (not comparable)

  1. Below ground, under the earth, underground.
    • Again the bearers took up the coffin, and cold and damp the subterranean air came from the opened vault. The tapers were lowered, and shed a ghastly light on the rows of piled coffins, and the moisture glittering on the walls.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 162
    • And you were in the parking lot / Subterranean by your own design1975, Joni Mitchell, “The Boho Dance”, in The Hissing of Summer Lawns
  2. (broadly) Secret, concealed.
    • The subterranean tool of buying rigged opinion polling and media coverage is outlined in remarkable detail in chat exchanges recovered from the cellphone of one of Mr. Kurz’s closest allies and friends, Thomas Schmid.2021 October 17, Katrin Bennhold, “Fake Polls and Tabloid Coverage on Demand: The Dark Side of Sebastian Kurz”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Noun

subterranean (plural subterraneans)

  1. Someone or something that is subterranean.
    • [H]e continues Lean like a Hawke or Heron, notwith ſtanding his devouring Appetite: yet it would ſeem that they convey that ſubſtance elſewhere, for theſe Subterraneans eat but little in their Dwellings; […]1691, Robert Kirk, “Of the Subterranean Inhabitants”, in Andrew Lang, editor, The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, & Fairies: A Study in Folk-Lore & Psychical Research (Bibliothèque de Carabas...
    • Whatever elſe the Tauric Cimmerium have been right or wrong called, it is no leſs ſurely a capital of darkneſs, than, near the famous Baths of Baiae, in Campania, the Cimmerium, where the inhabitants were truly Cimmerian; as miners, or other ſubterraneans; who, for good or evil purpoſe, never faced...1782, James Elphinston, “A Comment on the Epigrams of Martial”, in M[arcus] Val[erius] Martial, translated by James Elphinston, The Epigrams of M. Val. Martial, in Twelve Books: with a Comment...

subterranean meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam

subterranean in Hindi

below ground, under the earth — see also underground
भूमिगत bhūmigat

subterranean in Tamil

நிலக்கீழான, தரைகீழ், தரையின்கீழுள்ள

subterranean in Bengali

ভূগর্ভস্থ, পাতাল

subterranean in Malayalam

ഭൂമിക്കടിയിലുളള, നിലവറയായ, ഗൂഢമായ
More languagesFewer languages
subterranean in Kannada
ಭೂಗರ್ಭದ, ಭೂಮಿಯ ಕೆಳಗಿರುವ, ನೆಲದೊಳಗಿನ, ಭೂಗತಪ್ರದೇಶದ

Examples of subterranean in a sentence

  • The best way to neutralise its [nuclear waste's] threat is to move it into a subterranean vault, of the kind the UK plans to build later this century.2022 December 15, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:
  • A day when people from all walks of life set aside their differences and focus their undivided attention on the prognostication abilities of a subterranean rodent.2025 February 2, Andrew Torgan and Kimberly Richardson, “Start your week smart: Trump tariffs, DC air collision, hostages released, medevac...
  • Prue found an ample subterranean, neatly furnished; […]1906, Richard Whiteing, chapter X, in Ring in the New, London: Hutchinson & Co. […], →OCLC, page 66:
  • Reparata in the subterraneans of the Duomo.1988, Erika Pauli, transl., “Santa Reparata”, in Art and History of Florence, Florence: Casa Editrice Bonechi, page 56:

All 19 example sentences with subterranean

Synonyms of subterranean

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of subterranean

Forms of subterranean

pluralsubterraneans

Origin of subterranean

From Latin subterrāneus + -an. Compare subterrane and subterraneous.

Words formed from subterranean

Phrases with subterranean

Questions about subterranean

What does subterranean mean?
Subterranean means below ground, under the earth, underground.
What is subterranean in Hindi?
Subterranean in Hindi is भूमिगत (bhūmigat). See Subterranean meaning in Hindi.
How do you use subterranean in a sentence?
The best way to neutralise its [nuclear waste's] threat is to move it into a subterranean vault, of the kind the UK plans to build later this century.
What part of speech is subterranean?
Subterranean can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce subterranean?
Subterranean is pronounced /ˌsʌbtəˈɹeɪniən/.

Words near subterranean in the dictionary

  1. subterposition
  2. subterrain
  3. subterrains
  4. subterrane
  5. subterraneal
  6. subterranean
  7. subterranean clover
  8. subterranean clovers
  9. subterraneanity
  10. subterraneanly
  11. subterraneanness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: subterranean (page history and authors); subterranean (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subterranean (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subterranean (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); subterranean (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-subterranean.wav.

Cite this entry: “subterranean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/subterranean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.