Word.ws English Dictionary

underhanded

underhanded adjective: done by moving the hand (and arm) from below. Also the simple past and past participle of underhand.

Adjective

underhanded (comparative more underhanded, superlative most underhanded)

  1. Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.
    • Golf is an underhanded game, because we must swing the club in an underhanded motion in order to play the ball off the ground.2011, Edward A Tischler, The Way Of The Golfer: Searching For New Horizons, →ISBN, page 25
  2. Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating.
    • His underhanded trick backfired and he was disqualified.
    • They were actually underhanded threats to call off the lawsuit and then all insurance agents in the hospital district would get a dividend for the premiums paid.2007, Dewey Anderson, When Satan Came to Moose Lake, →ISBN, page 118
  3. Insincere; sarcastic.
    • An underhanded compliment is actually criticism.
    • Of course, sometimes compliments just aren't really compliments. Underhanded compliments are, for better or worse, nothing new or unusual.2012, Hanne Blank, The Unapologetic Fat Girl's Guide to Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts, →ISBN, page 56
    Synonyms:
    backhanded
  4. Secret; surreptitious.
    • And, although the mystery of an unsigned note rather thrilled her, it seemed underhanded. And June hated underhanded things.1903, Arthur Wellington Brayley, Arthur Wilson Tarbell, Joe Mitchell Chapple, National Magazine - Volume 19, page 493
    • A general agreement should be made among the nations, that henceforth, all underhanded diplomatic agreements be abolished, and that complete publicity be observed in discussing and transacting international affairs.1918, Cambrian ... Published in the Interest of the Welsh People and Their Descendants in the United States Volume 38
    Synonyms:
    sneaky
  5. Understaffed.
    • Between 9.30, when the first shot was fired, and 11.45 a.m., the enemy, well aware of his vast superiority in men — the ' Intrepid,' being, as was usual with the Company's cruisers, underhanded — made two attempts to run her on board and throw an overpowering force on the brig's decks.1877, Charles Rathbone Low, History of the Indian Navy: (1613-1863), page 209
    • Jude and me can make out to work the boat and get a livin', but we're too underhanded for a big job.2008, H. De Vere Stacpoole, Satan: a Story of the Sea King's Country, →ISBN, page 51

Adverb

underhanded (comparative more underhanded, superlative most underhanded)

  1. In an underhanded manner.
    • Bonino required each of us to shoot our free throws underhanded.2009, Patrick M. Sheridan, How Come Nothing Ever Kills Granddad?, →ISBN
    • The 3fz one-hand-only shooting mechanism allows players to shoot the basketball up-handed by pronating palm (down) and uplifting the arm, as well as underhanded by supinating palm (up) and low-hand Unishots.2011, Xiaoxing Chen, Three-Finger Zen: A Basketball Revolution, →ISBN, page 54
    Synonyms:
    underhandedly

Noun

the underhanded pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) Devious people, collectively.
    • We have fallen to the underhanded and label it a greater means.2002, Anthony D. Darden, The Mind of Mafia Work, →ISBN, page 91
    • The kind of kho'los that comes from unfair dealings, culturally unacceptable practices that bring rewards to the underhanded can, on Odysseus's (and Agamemnon's) terms, be set aside.2005, Thomas R. Walsh, Fighting Words and Feuding Words: Anger and the Homeric Poems, →ISBN

Also used as

underhanded is also the simple past and past participle of underhand.

Examples of underhanded in a sentence

  • Was the federal government being underhanded and hypocritical in officially praising the merits of federalism, but in missing no opportunity to promote Canadian nationalism?2009, Alain-G. Gagnon, Contemporary Canadian Federalism, →ISBN:
  • The pap phoned and we told him that Kirschner probably peddled them himself and now was accusing you of acting underhanded so he did not have out to pay out any more dough.2010, Al Walentis, Polly Kahl, The Secret World of Jon and Kate, →ISBN, page 152:
  • There were underhanded ploys that were effective but were deplored by the hospital administration.2014, Carl Douglass, The Long Climb, →ISBN:
  • Poking underhanded fun at the contestants live on stage was absolutely inexcusable.2013, Charmaine Ross, Makeover Miracle, →ISBN:

All 22 example sentences with underhanded

Synonyms of underhanded

All synonyms of underhanded

Forms of underhanded

Adjective
comparativemore underhanded
superlativemost underhanded
alternative formunder-handed
Adverb
comparativemore underhanded
superlativemost underhanded

Origin of underhanded

From under- + handed.

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Words formed from underhanded

Questions about underhanded

What does underhanded mean?
Underhanded means done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.
How do you use underhanded in a sentence?
Was the federal government being underhanded and hypocritical in officially praising the merits of federalism, but in missing no opportunity to promote Canadian nationalism?
What part of speech is underhanded?
Underhanded can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.

Words near underhanded in the dictionary

  1. underhaired
  2. underhalls
  3. underhammer
  4. underhammers
  5. underhand
  6. underhanded
  7. underhandedly
  8. underhandedness
  9. underhander
  10. underhanders
  11. underhanding

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: underhanded (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-underhanded.wav.

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