underhanded
Part of speech: adj
adv
noun
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én
Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér
Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí
Proto-Indo-European *-ér
Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér
Proto-Germanic *under
Proto-West Germanic *undar
Old English under-
Middle English under-
English under-
Proto-Germanic *handuz
Proto-West Germanic *handu
Old English hand
Middle English hond
English hand
English -ed
English handed
English underhanded
From under- + handed.
Inflected forms:
form: more underhanded
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most underhanded
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: under-handed
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: more underhanded
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most underhanded
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: under-handed
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: the underhanded
pos: noun
tags: canonical
plural
form: under-handed
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.
pos: adj
examples: Golf is an underhanded game, because we must swing the club in an underhanded motion in order to play the ball off the ground.
gloss: Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
Was the federal government being underhanded and hypocritical in officially praising the merits of federalism, but in missing no opportunity to promote Canadian nationalism?
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.
There were underhanded ploys that were effective but were deplored by the hospital administration.
gloss: Insincere; sarcastic.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
Poking underhanded fun at the contestants live on stage was absolutely inexcusable.
“Have you seen my film?” He's asking about Election, his deliriously sardonic and underhanded satire of politics and high school culture that follows trepidatious government teacher (Matthew Broderick) through increasingly bizarre attempts to sideline a senior's fanatical student body presidential campaign.
gloss: Secret; surreptitious.
pos: adj
examples: And, although the mystery of an unsigned note rather thrilled her, it seemed underhanded. And June hated underhanded things.
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.
He moved in closer, covertly noticing Vienna's underhanded peek.
gloss: Understaffed.
pos: adj
examples: 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.
Jude and me can make out to work the boat and get a livin', but we're too underhanded for a big job.
The government believed that most plantations in St. Vincent were “underhanded” and the phenomenon of runaways, or marronage, only exacerbated the problem.
gloss: In an underhanded manner.
pos: adv
examples: Bonino required each of us to shoot our free throws underhanded.
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.
gloss: Devious people, collectively.
pos: noun
tags: plural
plural-only
examples: We have fallen to the underhanded and label it a greater means.
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.
But this is not what is decisive, as it also applies to the distrustful, the underhanded, and the “deranged."
Derived words: underhandedly
underhandedness
Translations: