Underhand

Definition: Underhand

Underhand

Adjective

1. (sports) with hand brought forward and up from below shoulder level; "an underhand pitch"; "an underhand stroke".

2. Marked by deception; "achieved success in business only by underhand methods".

Adverb

1. Slyly and secretly; "Mean revenge, committed underhand"- John Donne; "oldline aristocratic diplomats underhandedly undermined the attempt...to align Germany with the Western democracies"- C.G.Bowers.

2. With the hand swung below shoulder level'; "throwing a ball underarm".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "underhand" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1593. (references)

Synonyms: Underhand

Concealment

Underhand, by stealth, like a thief in the night; stealthily; Adjective: behind the scenes, behind the curtain, behind one's back, behind a screen; incognito; in camera.

Reticence; reserve; mental reserve, reservation; arriere pensee, suppression, evasion, white lie, misprision; silence; (taciturnity); suppression of truth; underhand dealing; closeness, secretiveness; Adjective: mystery.

Obrep furtive, stealthy, feline; skulking; Verb: surreptitious, underhand, hole and corner; sly; (cunning).; secretive, evasive; reserved, reticent, uncommunicative, buttoned up; close, close as wax; taciturn.

Cunning

Adjective: cunning, crafty, artful; skillful; subtle, feline, vulpine; cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent; deep, deep laid; profound; designing, contriving; intriguing;Verb: strategic, diplomatic, politic, Machiavelian, timeserving; artificial; tricky, tricksy; wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy; underhand; (hidden); subdolous; deceitful; slippery as an eel, evasive; crooked; arch, pawky, shrewd, acute; sharp, sharp as a tack, sharp as a needle; canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff.

Latency Implication

Indirect, crooked, inferential; by inference, by implication; implicit; constructive; allusive, covert, muffled; steganographic; understood, underhand, underground; delitescent, concealed.

Crosswords: Underhand

Swedish (privately).

But if all the world shall observe pretences of one kind, and actions of another; arts used to elude the law, and the trust of prerogative (which is an arbitrary power in some things left in the prince's hand to do good, not harm to the people) employed contrary to the end for which it was given: if the people shall find the ministers and subordinate magistrates chosen suitable to such ends, and favoured, or laid by, proportionably as they promote or oppose them: if they see several experiments made of arbitrary power, and that religion underhand favoured, (tho' publicly proclaimed against) which is readiest to introduce it; and the operators in it supported, as much as may be; and when that cannot be done, yet approved still, and liked the better: if a long train of actions shew the councils all tending that way; how can a man any more hinder himself from being persuaded in his own mind, which way things are going; or from casting about how to save himself, than he could from believing the captain of the ship he was in, was carrying him, and the rest of the company, to Algiers, when he found him always steering that course, though cross winds, leaks in his ship, and want of men and provisions did often force him to turn his course another way for some time, which he steadily returned to again, as soon as the wind, weather, and other circumstances would let him? Sect. (Second Treatise of Government)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expressions using "underhand": gain smb.'s confidence in an underhand way ♦ underhand business ♦ underhand practices ♦ underhand work. Additional references.

Afrikaans

in die geheim (behind one's back). (various references)

Albanian

tinëzisht (secretly, stealthily, thievishly), tinëzar (catlike, crafty, foxy, insidious, shifty, sly, sly person, slyboots, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, underground), tinëz (secretly, stealthily), i fshehtë (backdoor, clandestine, close, colorable, colourable, confidential, cryptic, dark, deep, deep-seated, elfish, elvish, esoteric, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, insidious, internal, latent, occult, Perdue, private, privy, quiet, secret, secretive, sly, stealthy, subterranean, under the counter, under the table, under wraps, undercover, underhanded, unearthly, veiled), fshehurazi (behind the scenes, furtively, in secret, on the sly, secretly), fshehtas (behind one's back, secretly). (various references)

Arabic 

‏منجز و اليد تحت مستوى الكتف, ‏مخادع (artful, bluff, bluffer, crafty, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, devious, dishonest, disingenuous, double, double dealing, double-tongued, face, false, fraudulent, hustler, illusive, illusory, indirect, insincere, misguiding, misleading, sly, trickish, tricky, wily), ‏و اليد تحت مستوى الكتف, ‏سري (clandestine, classified, close, closet, confidential, covert, cryptic, discreet, furtive, hugger mugger, hush hush, inmost, low key, mysterious, mystic, occult, off the record, private, privy, sacramental, secret, slinking, stealthy, subterranean, surreptitious, umbilical, undercover, underground). (various references)

Bulgarian 

тайно (darkling, furtively, hugger mugger, in camera, in private, inwardly, on the quiet, on the sly, privately, privily, secretly, under the counter, under the rose, underground, underhanded), таен (arcane, backdoor, clandestine, confidential, cryptic, dark, darkling, esoteric, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, hush hush, inside, mystic, occult, private, privy, recondite, secret, sensitive, sneaking, snug, surreptitious, undercover, underground), коварен (catty, crafty, guileful, insidious, perfidious, snaky, subtle, trappy), непочтен (discreditable, dishonest, dishonorable, dishonourable, disreputable, fishy, foul, oblique, shady, sharp, twisty), задкулисно (behind the scenes, underhanded), лукав (astute, crafty, designing, feline, furtive, guileful, parlous, pawky, serpentine, sly, snaky, subtle, tricky, wicked, wily), потаен (cagey, cagy, covert, disingenuous, furtive, hush hush, inner, reserved, reticent, secret, secretive, sly, stealthy, subterranean), подмолно (secretly, underground), изотдолу (from below). (various references)

Czech

tajný (clandestine, classified, confidential, furtive, hole-and-corner, inward, occult, privy, restricted, retired, secret, sneaking, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underhanded, unspoken), tajnì (by stealth, confidentially, furtively, in camera, in secret, inly, secretly), lstivý (crafty, cunning, deceitful, designing, leery, politic, subtle, tricky, wily), úskoèný (crafty, deceitful, shifty, shuffling, snaky, tricky, wily). (various references)

Dutch

stiekem (behind one's back), achterbaks (behind one's back). (various references)

Esperanto

kaŝite (behind one's back). (various references)

Farsi 

نهانی (Last, Occult, Potential, Secret, Suberranean, Surreptitious, Undercover), حقه بازی (Cog, Juggle, Legerdemain, Quackery), تقلب وتزویر, زیرجلی (Clandestine, Surreptitious, Undercover). (various references)

Finnish

salakähmäinen (clandestine), salainen (clandestine, concealed, confidential, hidden, secret), kavala (deceitful, false, insidious, treacherous). (various references)

French

sournois, secrètement (underground), en sous-main, en dessous (under, underneath), cachetteen. (various references)

Frisian

efterbaks (behind one's back). (various references)

German

unter der Hand (on the quiet, underhandly), unsauber (bent, black, dirty, impure, inaccurate, inaccurately, scruff, shady, unclean, unfair, unpurified, untidy), verschlagen (artful, board up, bring, cunningly, devious, foxy, sly, slyly, strand, take away, thrash, tricky, wallop, wily), hinterhältig (false, guileful, mean, perfidious, snaky, sneaky, treacherous). (various references)

Greek 

κρύφιοσ (covert, cryptical, lurking, stealthy, surreptitious, ulterior, underhanded), ύπουλοσ (catty, hangdog, insidious, insinuate, perfidious, shady, sneak, sneaker, sneaky, underhanded), δόλιοσ (deceitful, dishonest, fraudulent, guileful, lurking, sly, snaky, trappy, treacherous, two faced, underhanded, wily). (various references)

Hawaiian

fshehtas (behind one's back). (various references)

Hebrew 

ערמומי (arch, artful, calculating, canny, catchy, crafty, cunning, devious, foxy, insidious, pawky, shifty, slicker, sly, wily), חשאי (clandestine, discreet, inmost, quiet, secret, silent, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious, under cover). (various references)

Hungarian

alattomos (cunning, disingenuous, guileful, hang-dog, hanging, perfidious, shrewd, sly, sneaking, surreptitious), alattomban (clandestinely, on the sly, surreptitiously). (various references)

Italian

di nascosto (behind one's back). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

逆手 (an underhand or backhand grip, unexpected twist), アンザス条約 (Ancien Regime, andante, andante cantabile, andantino, angelus, antagonism, anthology, anti-, anti-establishment, antique, antique fashion, ANZUS Treaty, disliked, submarine pitch, under, under par, undercoat, underground, underhand throw, underline, underpass, underplot, underproof, underscore, undershirt, underskill, underwear, undulation, United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, UNTAC, untied loan, untouchable), 下手投�' (an underarm throw, an underhand throw). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

したてな�' (an underarm throw, an underhand throw), さかて (an underhand or backhand grip, drink money), アンダーハンドスロー (underhand throw), アンダースロー (submarine pitch, underhand throw). (various references)

Korean 

불공� �한 (underhanded). (various references)

Manx

fo laue (at hand, read), dy cam. (various references)

Pig Latin

erhandunday.(various references)

Portuguese

secretamente (privately, secretly), por baixo de mão, com a mão por baixo, clandestinamente (helter-skelter, hugger-mugger), � s ocultas (underground). (various references)

Romanian

clandestin (clandestine, clandestinely, furtive, furtively, hugger mugger, illicit, privy, secret, secretly, surreptitious, surreptitiously), ascuns (abstruse, backstairs, blind, cagey, close, concealed, covert, cryptic, dark, furtive, hidden, masked, mystic, occult, postern, privy, q.t., quiet, recondite, secluded, secret, secretive, self contained, sneaking, stealthy, sunken, ulterior, uncommunicative, underground, undiscovered). (various references)

Russian 

тайный (arcane, backdoor, clandestine, cryptic, dark, esoteric, furtive, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, offscreen, private, privy, quiet, secret, sly, sneaking, stealthy, surreptitious, under the table, undercover, underground, underhanded), тайно закулисный, тайно (behind closed doors, furtively, hugger mugger, secretly, stealthily, surreptitiously), закулисный (backstage, behind-the-scenes, offscreen, offstage). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

podmukao (insidious, knavish, perfidious, trappy, treacherous), nepošteno (foul, sinuous), nepošten (crooked, devious, dishonest, immoral, knavish, underhanded, unprincipled, unscrupulous). (various references)

Spanish

clandestino (clandestine, secret, stealthy, surreptitious, undercover, underground). (various references)

Swedish

hemlig (arcane, blind, clandestine, close, concealed, confidential, covert, furtive, hole-and-corner, occult, offscreen, privy, quiet, secret, secretly, sneaking, surreptitious, under cover, underground, underhanded). (various references)

Turkish

sinsice (furtively, insidiously, slily, sneakingly, underarm), sinsi (cattish, catty, furtive, gloating, hole-and-corner, insidious, slinky, sly, snaky, sneaking, sneaky, underarm), kurnazca (cuningly, cutely, politically, slily, subtle, underarm), gizli (arcane, back door, blind, camera, clandestine, classified, closet, concealed, confidential, covert, cryptic, cryptical, crypto-, disguised, esoteric, furtive, hidden, hole-and-corner, hugger mugger, huggermugger, hush hush, inner, intimate, latent, masked, occult, perdu, Perdue, private, privy, quiet, restricted, sealed, secluded, secret, secretly, slinky, sneaking, sneakingly, sneaky, snug, stealthy, sub rosa, submerged, submersed, subterranean, subterraneous, surreptitious, ulterior, under cover, underarm, undercover, underground, underhanded, undisclosed, unsearchable, unseen), el altından (by devious means, by stealth, clandestine, clandestinely, hole-and-corner, in secret, on the sly, secretly, slily, sub rosa, surreptitious, under the counter, under the rose, undercover, underhanded), aşağıdan vurulan (underarm), aşağıdan. (various references)

Ukrainian

секретний (back room, classified, confidential, hole-and-corner, hush hush, private, privy, secret, sensitive, subterraneous, underneath), та�"мно (behind the back, hugger mugger, occultly, secretly, sub rosa, under hand, underground), нещирий (bad, disingenuous, false, insincere, lip, tongue in cheek). (various references)

Welsh

llechwraidd (insidious, stealthy). (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "underhand": underhanded, underhandedly, underhandedness, underhandednesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Underhand" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: funderland, lundaland, undersand. (additional references)

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: unhanded.

-2 letters: daunder, hundred, unheard.

-3 letters: dander, darned, dhurna, duenna, dunned, dunner, durned, handed, harden, undead, unhand, unread.

-4 letters: adder, dared, denar, dread, dured, haded, hared, heard, henna, nuder, readd, redan, udder, under.

-5 letters: dare, darn, dead, dean, dear, duad, dude, dune, dura, dure, durn, earn, hade, haed, haen, hand, hard, hare, head, hear, herd.

+2 letters: underhanded.

+4 letters: underhandedly.