underdog
UK/ˈʌndəˌdɒɡ//ˈʌndɚˌdɔɡ/
underdog noun: a competitor thought unlikely to win.
Noun
underdog (plural underdogs)
- A competitor thought unlikely to win.
- They were the underdogs in the basketball competition.
- In Athens, the Americans are underdogs to the Chinese and the Canadians (the Canadians!)2004 August 30, The New Yorker, page 40
- Synonyms:
- little guy, rank outsider
- Somebody at a disadvantage.
- Laszlo: Isn't it strange that you always happened to be fighting on the side of the underdog?
Rick: Yes. I found that a very expensive hobby, too. But then I never was much of a businessman.1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca
- Synonyms:
- bottom dog
- Laszlo: Isn't it strange that you always happened to be fighting on the side of the underdog?
- A high swing wherein the person pushing the swing runs beneath the swing while the person being pushed is at the forward limit of the arc.
underdog meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu
underdog in Hindi
- अंडरडॉग
underdog in Urdu
- ادنیٰ, بدبخت, گرا پڑا شخص, حقیر, ہیچ, کمزور
underdog in Bengali
- আন্ডারডগ
underdog in Telugu
- అండర్డాగ్, అండర్ డాగ్
More languagesFewer languages
- underdog in Malayalam
- തോറ്റുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്നയാൾ, ദുരിതപ്പെടുന്നവൻ, ദരിദ്രനും നിസ്സഹായനുമായ ആൾ
- underdog in Kannada
- ಒಲುಮೆಗಳಿಸದ, ಸೋಲುತ್ತಿರುವ, ಹಕ್ಕುಪಡೆಯದ
- underdog in Punjabi
- ਅੰਡਰਡੌਗ, ਅੰਡਰਡਾਗ
- underdog in Gujarati
- અંડરડોગ
- underdog in Odia
- ଅଣ୍ଡରଡଗ୍, ଅଣ୍ଡରଡାଗ୍
- underdog in Nepali
- अन्डरडग, अन्डरडोग
- underdog in Arabic
- مُسْتَضْعَف mustaḍʕaf, غَيْر مُرَشَّح ḡayr muraššaḥ
- underdog in Indonesian
- bedebah, pecundang
- underdog in Thai
- มวยรอง muai-rɔɔng, ไก่รองบ่อน gài-rɔɔng-bɔ̀n, เบี้ยล่าง bîia-lâang
Examples of underdog in a sentence
- He used to be a voice for the underdog until he sold out.
- It’s part of our psyche – underneath it all we side with the underdog.”
- American comeback narratives are — customarily — uplifting stories that root for the underdog.
Synonyms of underdog
Antonyms
Forms of underdog
| plural | underdogs |
|---|
Origin of underdog
From under- + dog.
Words formed from underdog
Questions about underdog
- What does underdog mean?
- Underdog means a competitor thought unlikely to win.
- What is underdog in Hindi?
- Underdog in Hindi is अंडरडॉग. See Underdog meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is underdog?
- Underdog is a noun.
- How do you pronounce underdog?
- Underdog is pronounced /ˈʌndəˌdɒɡ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of underdog?
- The plural of underdog is underdogs.
Words near underdog in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: underdog (page history and authors); underdog (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underdog (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); underdog (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underdog (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underdog (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); underdog (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); underdog (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underdog (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underdog (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underdog (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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: en-us-underdog.ogg.
Cite this entry: “underdog.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/underdog. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.