underhanded

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"underhanded" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“underhanded” is uncommon English (frequency #54,549 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#54,549
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.

Corpus desk

Index EN-underhanded · underhanded · English

underhanded · rank #54,549 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #54,549
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH unapproved

Nearest frequency peer: unapproved (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “underhanded”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “underhanded” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for underhanded
PropertyValue
Headwordunderhanded
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Frequency rank#54,549
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “underhanded” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).underhandedfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “unapproved” (#54,548), “unfazed” (#54,550), “unmask” (#54,551). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “underhanded” is #54,549. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

underhanded is uncommon English at frequency #54,549 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for underhanded, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From under- + handed. The correct English form is underhanded, spelled U-N-D-E-R-H-A-N-D-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.
  2. 2
    Sly, dishonest, corrupt, cheating.
  3. 3
    Insincere; sarcastic.
  4. 4
    Secret; surreptitious.
  5. 5
    Understaffed.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how underhanded appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Golf is an underhanded game, because we must swing the club in an underhanded motion in order to play the ball off the ground.
  2. His underhanded trick backfired and he was disqualified.

Etymology

From under- + handed.

Synonyms

underhandunderstaffedbackhanded

This word in other languages

hinterhältig(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "underhanded"?
"underhanded" is spelled U-N-D-E-R-H-A-N-D-E-D.
What does "underhanded" mean?
As an adjective, "underhanded" means: Done by moving the hand (and arm) from below.
What is the origin of the word "underhanded"?
From under- + handed. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "underhanded", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

windsurfing#54,571suffragette#54,513angiotensin#54,614sensitively#54,473

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list