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Underhand vs Nefarious - What's the difference?

underhand | nefarious | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between underhand and nefarious

is that underhand is secret; clandestine while nefarious is sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.

As an adverb underhand

is with an underhand movement.

underhand

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • secret; clandestine
  • (by extension) dishonest and sneaky; done in a secret or sly manner
  • thrown (etc.) with the hand brought forward and up from below

    • Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • with an underhand movement
  • in a sly, sneaky or secret manner

    • nefarious

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.
  • * 1828 , , The Red Rover , ch. 2:
    • "If the vessel be no fair-trading slaver, nor a common cruiser of his Majesty, it is as tangible as the best man's reasoning, that she may be neither more nor less than the ship of that nefarious pirate the Red Rover."
  • * 1877 , , The Life of Cicero , ch. 9:
    • Mommsen . . . declares that Catiline in particular was "one of the most nefarious' men in that ' nefarious age. His villanies belong to the criminal records, not to history."
  • * 1921 , , The Indiscretions of Archie , ch. 26:
    • The fact that the room was still in darkness made it obvious that something nefarious was afoot. Plainly there was dirty work in preparation at the cross-roads.
  • * 2009 Oct. 14, Monica Davey, " Fact Checker Finds Falsehoods in Remarks," New York Times (retrieved 12 May 2014):
    • “I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington.”

    Usage notes

    * Commonly used in contexts involving villainous plans, conspiracies, or actions, as in: :* 1909 , , The Lady of the Shroud , book 7: ::: The whole nefarious scheme was one of the "put-up jobs" which are part of the dirty work of a certain order of statecraft.

    Synonyms

    * evil, iniquitous, sinister, underhanded, vile * See also

    Derived terms

    * nefariously * nefariousness

    References

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