Word.ws English Dictionary

underground

Syllables: un·der·ground/ˌʌn.dəˈɡɹaʊnd/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northumbria/ˌʊn.dɐˈɡɹʊnd/

underground adjective: below the ground; below the surface of the Earth. Also the simple past and past participle of undergrind.

underground: below the ground; below the surface of the Earth
Image: Colin McLaughlin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

underground (comparative more underground, superlative most underground)

  1. (not comparable) Below the ground; below the surface of the Earth.
    • There is an underground tunnel that takes you across the river.
    • One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.2014 June 14, “It’s a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2014
  2. (figuratively) Hidden, furtive, secretive.
    • These criminals operate through an underground network.
    • At the time, South Florida had a highly active underground biker culture. Gangs including the Pagans, Outlaws and the Reapers frequently moved through the area.2026 July 29, Nicholas Muhoro, “Amy Billig Vanished While Hitchhiking Through Coconut Grove. Then the Calls Began”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 31 Jul 2026
  3. (figuratively) Of or relating to an art forms (such as music) or subculture that is outside the mainstream, especially one that is unofficial and hidden from the authorities.
    • underground music
    • ‘[…]he wrote to me last week telling me about an incredible bitch of a row blazing there on account of someone having been and gone and produced an unofficial magazine called Raddled, full of obscene libellous Oz-like filth. And what I though, what Sammy and I thought, was—why not?’ ‘Why not what?’...1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 27
    Antonyms:
    mainstream

Adverb

underground (comparative more underground, superlative most underground)

  1. Below the ground.
    • The tunnel goes underground at this point.
    Synonyms:
    belowground
  2. Secretly.

Noun

underground (plural undergrounds)

  1. The regions beneath the surface of the earth, both natural (eg. caves) and man-made (eg. mines).
  2. (UK) Synonym of subway: a railway that is under the ground.
    • London Underground
  3. (with-definite-article) A movement or organization of people who resist political convention.
    • the French underground during World War II
    • Victor, please, don't go to the underground meeting tonight.1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca, spoken by Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman)
    Synonyms:
    resistance
  4. (with-definite-article) A movement or organization of people who resist artistic convention.

Verb

underground (third-person singular simple present undergrounds, present participle undergrounding, simple past and past participle undergrounded)

  1. To route electricity distribution cables underground.
    • One is to underground where no other alternative will work, and this method should be used universally in urban regions as it now is in “downtown” sections.1962, David Pesonen, “Battles Over Energy”, in Carolyn Merchant, editor, Green Versus Gold: Sources in California's Environmental History, Island Press, published 1998, →ISBN, page 325
    • Also, undergrounding may not eliminate the potential for crashes with other roadside objects, such as trees, walls, buildings, and so forth. [...] When looking at the fesibility of undergrounding utilities, the complete roadside area and nearby adjacent properties should be evaluated for potential...2004, Don L. Ivey, C. Paul Scott, “Solutions”, in Transportation Research Board Committee on Utilities, editor, Utilities and Roadside Safety, State of the Art Report 9, Transportation Research...

Proper noun capitalized: Underground

the Underground

  1. (UK) The London Underground.
    • Although some of the stations on ' The Branch ' have not, as yet, suffered any considerable structural alterations, all are now equipped with the familiar Underground type name boards, and as a result the imposing titles of G.N. days have been ruthlessly curtailed.1940 October, “Notes and News: The High Barnet Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 569
    • Heathrow has a 28% share of passengers arriving by rail, two-thirds of whom come by the Underground.2019 October, John Glover, “Heathrow rail expansion”, in Modern Railways, page 71
    Synonyms:
    Tube

Also used as

underground is also the simple past and past participle of undergrind.

underground meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

underground in Hindi

below the ground — see also subterranean
भूमिगत bhūmigat, अंतर्भौम antarbhaum, ज़मींदोज़ zamīndoz, भूगर्भस्थ bhūgarbhasth, भूगर्भिक bhūgarbhik
regions beneath the surface of the earth
भूगर्भ bhūgarbh, अंतर्भूमि antarbhūmi, भूमिगत bhūmigat

underground in Tamil

நிலத்தடி

underground in Marathi

भूमिगत, भूमिगत करणे, भूमिगतकरण

underground in Urdu

زیر زمین, زیر زیر زمین
More languagesFewer languages
underground in Bengali
ভূগর্ভস্থ, ভূগর্ভস্থকরণ
underground in Telugu
భూగర్భం
underground in Malayalam
ഭൂഗർഭ
underground in Kannada
ಭೂಗತ, ಭೂಗತಕರಣ
underground in Punjabi
ਭੂਮੀਗਤ, ਜ਼ਮੀਨਦੋਜ਼
underground in Gujarati
ભૂગર્ભ
underground in Odia
ଭୂତଳ
underground in Nepali
भूमिगत, भूमिगतकरण, भूमिगतता
underground in Malay
bawah tanah, banah

Examples of underground in a sentence

  • And what I though, what Sammy and I thought, was—why not?’ ‘Why not what?’ said Tom. ‘Why not do the same thing here?’ ‘You mean an underground magazine?’ ‘Yup.’1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, page 27:
  • "In many ways, it showed there was no longer an underground, as such.2010 March 20, James Campbell, “Barry Miles: 'I think of the 60s as a supermarket of ideas. We were looking for new ways to live'”, in The...
  • The utility now wants the network to be undergrounded in the urban areas, which would mean substations with 33 kV distribution swtichgear.2006, Janes Northcote-Green, Robert Wilson, “Design, Construction and Operation of Distribution Systems, MV Networks”, in Control and...

All 40 example sentences with underground

Synonyms of underground

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of underground

Forms of underground

Adjective
comparativemore underground
superlativemost underground
alternative form (archaic)under ground
alternative form (archaic)under-ground
Adverb
comparativemore underground
superlativemost underground
Noun
pluralundergrounds
Verb
third-person singular presentundergrounds
present participleundergrounding
past participleundergrounded
pastundergrounded

Origin of underground

From Middle English undergrounde (adverb), equivalent to under + ground or under- + ground. Compare Dutch ondergrond, ondergronds, German Untergrund, Danish undergrunds.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from underground

Phrases with underground

1 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with underground

45 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about underground

What does underground mean?
Underground means below the ground; below the surface of the Earth.
What is underground in Hindi?
Underground in Hindi is भूमिगत (bhūmigat), अंतर्भौम (antarbhaum), ज़मींदोज़ (zamīndoz). See Underground meaning in Hindi.
How do you use underground in a sentence?
And what I though, what Sammy and I thought, was—why not?’ ‘Why not what?’ said Tom. ‘Why not do the same thing here?’ ‘You mean an underground magazine?’ ‘Yup.’
What part of speech is underground?
Underground can be an adjective, an adverb, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce underground?
Underground is pronounced /ˌʌn.dəˈɡɹaʊnd/ (UK).

Words near underground in the dictionary

  1. undergrip
  2. undergrips
  3. undergroom
  4. undergroomed
  5. undergrooms
  6. underground
  7. underground car parks
  8. underground folk
  9. underground handball
  10. underground handballs
  11. underground handpass

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: underground (page history and authors); Underground (page history and authors); underground (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); underground (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-underground.wav.

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