Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Acting or done in a deceptive, secret, or sly manner; dishonest and sneaky. synonym: secret.
- adjective Underhand.
- adverb In a sly and secret way.
- adverb With an underhand movement.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Underhand.
- Not having an adequate supply of hands; short-handed; sparsely peopled.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Underhand; clandestine.
- adjective Insufficiently provided with hands or workers; short-handed; sparsely populated; obsolete in this sense,
short-handed orunderstaffed being the preferrred term.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Done by moving the
hand (and arm) from below. - adjective
Sly ,dishonest ,corrupt ,cheating .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective with hand brought forward and up from below shoulder level
- adjective marked by deception
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Perkins, worn out, irritated by, if not angry at, what he termed the underhanded lying of the opposition, drove home for luncheon, and found his wife and her mother in a state of high dudgeon.
The Booming of Acre Hill And Other Reminiscences of Urban and Suburban Life John Kendrick Bangs 1892
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Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat go a step further in underhanded criticism, comparing the movie to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in an apparent attempt to give it a Christian link and then add, "Naturally, a female is one of the main temptations Will must overcome."
Archive 2007-10-01 2007
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Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat go a step further in underhanded criticism, comparing the movie to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in an apparent attempt to give it a Christian link and then add, "Naturally, a female is one of the main temptations Will must overcome."
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If the overstuffed, unzipped, unsealed bags contain more absentee ballots than were recorded on the transmittal sheet, then something underhanded is being attempted.
Sound Politics: "Ballot-bag problems may slow counting of 8th District votes" 2006
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Pelosi comes in for some ridicule about her supposed "underhanded" deals.
Jackie K. Cooper: I Want Your Money Is the Anti-Michael Moore Film Jackie K. Cooper 2010
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This kind of underhanded behaviour is the reason that independent bookstores are going out of business. another indie bookseller says:
[Bumped] Crowdsource this for me: Indigo flaunts the rules to screw small bookstores… more… 2010
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Pelosi comes in for some ridicule about her supposed "underhanded" deals.
Jackie K. Cooper: I Want Your Money Is the Anti-Michael Moore Film Jackie K. Cooper 2010
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Pelosi comes in for some ridicule about her supposed "underhanded" deals.
Jackie K. Cooper: I Want Your Money Is the Anti-Michael Moore Film Jackie K. Cooper 2010
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We do know that there are many out there in the Great Unwashed, though, who aren't really all that swift, and that this kind of underhanded campaign tactic is exactly calibrated to appeal to those in the herd who are susceptible to racist or intollerant messages.
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In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro published Monday, Mr. Karzai said the United States is using "underhanded" tactics to undermine him.
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