# underlie vs undermine

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### underlie
*verb · IPA /ˌʌn.dəˈlaɪ/ · frequency rank #42,970*
To lie in a position directly beneath something.

### undermine
*verb · IPA /ˌʌn.dəˈmaɪn/ · frequency rank #12,161*
To dig underneath (something), to make a passage for destructive or military purposes; to sap.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/underlie-vs-undermine