underhanded
adjective, adverb, noun
Also a form of underhand underhandedly
Forms the underhanded under-handed
- adjective Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.
- adjective Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating. “His underhanded trick backfired and he was disqualified.”
- adjective Insincere; sarcastic. “An underhanded compliment is actually criticism.”
- adjective Secret; surreptitious.
- adjective Understaffed.
- adverb In an underhanded manner.
- noun Devious people, collectively.
Synonyms
backhanded sneaky underhand understaffed underhandedly underarm
Etymology
From under- + handed.
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Underhand; clandestine.
- adjective Insufficiently provided with hands or workers; short-handed; sparsely populated.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “underhanded”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details