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PlainSpell

underwater

/ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/adjective, adverb, noun, verb

underwater is spelled U-N-D-E-R-W-A-T-E-R: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “under-water vs underwater” about 40 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, underwater means “Beneath the surface of the water; of or pertaining to the region beneath the water surface” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in underwater?

Letters10: U-N-D-E-R-W-A-T-E-R
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is underwater?

Underwater appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce underwater?

  • UK /ʌndə(ɹ)ˈwɔːtə/
  • US /ʌndɚˈwɔtəɹ/

Underwater has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-underwater.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with underwater

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

under-water vs underwater40 G

Also written: under-water (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with underwater?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as underwater from its last stressed vowel (/ɔtəɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of underwater

  • more underwater comparative
  • most underwater superlative
  • under water
  • under-water
  • underwaters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • underwatering participle, present
  • underwatered participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does underwater mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Beneath the surface of the water; of or pertaining to the region beneath the water surface.

    Watch out for underwater obstacles.

  2. 2

    Beneath the water line of a vessel.

    When the ship was brought into dry dock, it was found that she had underwater damage.

  3. 3

    In difficulty, especially financially.

  4. 4

    Having negative equity; owing more on an asset than its market value.

    We've been underwater on our mortgage ever since the housing crash.

  5. 5

    Of an option, having a strike price higher (call options) or lower (put options) than the current market price of the underlying asset or financial product; for example, an option to buy shares at $20 when the current market price is $15.

adverb

  1. 1

    So as to go beneath the surface of the water.

    Can you swim underwater?

noun

  1. 1

    Underlying water or body of water, for example in an aquifer or the deep ocean.

  2. 2

    A type of lure which lies beneath the water surface.

verb

  1. 1

    To water or irrigate insufficiently.

    Care must be taken not to underwater houseplants in the summer.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate underwater?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of underwater: UW, u.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Underwater in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsous l'eau (beneath the water surface)
Germanunter Wasser, Unterwasser- (beneath the water surface)
Portuguesesubmarino, subaquático, submarinho (beneath the water surface), debaixo d'água (nautical: going beneath the surface of the water)
Spanishsumergido, subacuático (beneath the water surface)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does underwater come from?

From under (preposition) + water.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after underwater