undercraft
undercraft noun: a sly trick, or subterfuge in general.
Noun (1)
undercraft (usually uncountable, plural undercrafts)
- A sly trick, or subterfuge in general.
- Not that by any analysis , -or that from any table of interest or genealogy , there appears much more ground of alliance betwixt them than betwixt light and darkness , or any two of the most unfriendly opposites in nature ; - only 'tis an undercraft of authors to keep up a good understanding...1759–1767, [Laurence Sterne], The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volume (please specify |volume=I to IX), London: […] T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, […]
- Mrs. Lambert believed this, and Ivon would not permit himself to doubt it; for to a generous and noble character like his, the undercraft and meanness of a small nature is simply incomprehensible.1872, Ann Sophia Stephens, The Reigning Belle, page 277
- Witchcraft or sorcery.
- Under-craft, witchcraft, call it what you will, but it is indeed poisonous.2008, John Dickinson, The Fatal Child
- He arrives at Ambrose's home in Tarceny and lets loose the “Heron Man,” Ambrose's uncle, who, for three hundred years, has used “undercraft” to maintain his evil power.2011, Linda Pavonetti, Bridges to Understanding: Envisioning the World Through Children's Books, page 273
- An apprentice or journeyman.
- These principles are to organize the undercrafts for justice and humanity, for better wages and diminished poverty, the reduction of hours of toil and the abolishment of Sunday slavery in so far as possible.1925, The Journeyman Barber, volume 21, page 426
Verb
undercraft (third-person singular simple present undercrafts, present participle undercrafting, simple past and past participle undercrafted)
- To outwit; to outmaneuver.
- In mock obeisance bow him low And he succumbs your slave: a show Of high respect will undercraft His cunning wit!1901, Charles Richard Panter, Granuaile: A Queen of the West, page 94
- To make with insufficient craftsmanship.
- Quite recently I had a piece published in a special Latino issue of a respected literary magazine, and though the cast now includes Cuban and Puerto Rican writers as well, the themes are still the same, and much of the writing is disappointingly simplistic or undercrafted.1999, Marilyn Kallet, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Sleeping with One Eye Open, page 137
- Although the unpolished nature of Chan-related figure painting is taken as a matter of course, apparition painting appears to rely largely on deskilling, the purposeful undercrafting that strained to achieve whatever the opposite of professionalism looked like in the monochrome ink medium.2010, Francesco Pellizzi, Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 55/56: Absconding, page 79
Noun (2)
undercraft (plural undercrafts)
- A submarine.
- But effective as mine-fields and cable nettings may be against hostile "undercraft" – as in the case of the channel where not a single troop-ship or supply-ship has yet been lost – they can be said to be only a deterrent, little more.1916 January, Robert Wilden Neeser, “The Submarine in War”, in Scribner's Magazine, volume 59, number 1, page 43
- Before considering the ways of combatting "undercraft," analyze the characteristics of this class of sea-fighters.1917 March 3, Marion Eppley, “Anti-Submarine Patrol”, in Scientific American, volume 116, number 9, page 222
- An underground crypt.
- His Body was first buried in the Undercraft of his own Cathedral-Church, whence, shortly after, it was taken up, put into a goodly Shrine beset with costly Jewels and precious Stones, and plac'd at the East end of the same Church.1708, Richard Newcourt, Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense, page 552
- According to the plans of the second Arthur, an undercraft was to be hewn out beneath the whold of the new building, and this was to be reserved for a sepulchre or mausoleum.1815, William Dunlap, The Life of Charles Brockden Brown, page 275
Adjective
undercraft (not comparable)
- Beneath a craft (water, air, or space vehicle).
- All models are recording instruments, instantaneously charting undercraft conditions on a permanent record.1952 January, Wilfrid O. White, “1952 Equipment”, in MotorBoating, volume 89, number 1, page 139
- Eight hard points are provided with landing pads, and these extend below the bottom of the buoyancy tank and protect the undercraft structure from local projections on the ground.1962, The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder, page 525
Examples of undercraft in a sentence
- Meredith's high-toned verbosities often draw strength from a secret affiliation with the "undercraft" of the underclasses, his humor sociolectic as well as lexical.1990, Garrett Stewart, James O Freedman, Reading Voices: Literature and the Phonotext, page 217:
- Such hordyng up of worldly wealth, such keeping much in store. . .Such falshed undercraft, and such unstedfast wayes, Was never sene within men's hartes, as is found nowadayes.2010, Graham Greene, Collected Essays:
- "I'd infinitely rather fall into the trap of overcrafting an ad than undercrafting it,” confesses Graham Warsop, “though clearly a healthy balance is preferable. […]"2012, Jim Aitchison, Cutting Edge Advertising:
- While she does not explicitly say that Swift's writing is undercrafted, she relies heavily on the word “clichéd,” which implies that Swift's work is lazy or insufficiently polished.2022, Ryan Hibbett, Lit-Rock: Literary Capital in Popular Music, page 82:
Forms of undercraft
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | undercrafts |
| alternative form | under-craft |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | undercrafts |
| present participle | undercrafting |
| past participle | undercrafted |
| past | undercrafted |
Origin of undercraft
From under- + craft.
Questions about undercraft
- What does undercraft mean?
- Undercraft means a sly trick, or subterfuge in general.
- How do you use undercraft in a sentence?
- Meredith's high-toned verbosities often draw strength from a secret affiliation with the "undercraft" of the underclasses, his humor sociolectic as well as lexical.
- What part of speech is undercraft?
- Undercraft can be a noun, a verb or an adjective.
- What is the plural of undercraft?
- The plural of undercraft is undercrafts.
Words near undercraft in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: undercraft (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)-Flame, not lame-undercraft.wav.
Cite this entry: “undercraft.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/undercraft. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.