underly
/ˈʌndə(ɹ)li/
underly adjective: poor; inferior. Also the nonstandard spelling of underlie.
Adjective
underly (comparative more underly, superlative most underly)
Adverb
underly (comparative more underly, superlative most underly)
- At a lower level.
- The Seed-Branch […] is presently divided into two main Branches, and those two into other less; whereof some underly, others aloft, run along the Coat.1672, Nehemiah Grew, The anatomy of vegetables begun
- In an inferior or inadequate manner; insufficiently (chiefly in opposition to overly).
- In this case, we are not in a position—at least from the perspective of the rules themselves and the values that lie behind them—to say that they are overly or underly inclusive.2000, William C. Heffernan, John Kleinig, From Social Justice to Criminal Justice, page 109
- Overly madeup and underly dressed young women were dancing in a cluster on the floor.2014, Jass Richards, Licence to Do That
Also used as
underly is also the nonstandard spelling of underlie.
Forms of underly
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more underly |
| superlative | most underly |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more underly |
| superlative | most underly |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | underlies |
| present participle | underlying |
| past | underlay |
| past participle | underlain |
Origin of underly
From under + -ly.
Back-formation from underlying.
Questions about underly
- What does underly mean?
- Underly means poor; inferior.
- What part of speech is underly?
- Underly can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce underly?
- Underly is pronounced /ˈʌndə(ɹ)li/.
Words near underly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: underly (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:
Cite this entry: “underly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/underly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.