underhandedly

adv

"underhandedly" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“underhandedly” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In an underhanded manner.

Corpus desk

Index EN-underhandedly · underhandedly · English

underhandedly · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "U" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for underhandedly
PropertyValue
Headwordunderhandedly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “underhandedly” in English

underhandedlyranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

underhandedly is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In an underhanded manner.".

underhandedly doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

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

Definition

  1. 1
    In an underhanded manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Because that democratic process did not initially support one of Hutchinson's choices of candidates, he points the finger at "leadership" and implies that things were underhandedly rigged from the start.

Etymology

From underhanded + -ly.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "underhandedly"?
"underhandedly" is spelled U-N-D-E-R-H-A-N-D-E-D-L-Y.
What does "underhandedly" mean?
As an adverb, "underhandedly" means: In an underhanded manner.
What is the origin of the word "underhandedly"?
From underhanded + -ly. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list