Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One that is expected to lose a contest or struggle, as in sports or politics.
- n. One that is at a disadvantage.
Wiktionary
- n. A competitor thought unlikely to win.
- n. Somebody at a disadvantage.
- n. A high swing wherein the person pushing the swing runs beneath the swing while the person being pushed is at the forward limit of the arc.
WordNet 3.0
- n. one at a disadvantage and expected to lose
Etymologies
- From under + dog. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The term underdog usually isn't associated with the California University of Pennsylvania football team.”
“Like "socialist", "appeaser" and "community organizer", the appellation "underdog" is just another co-opted, re-jiggered rightwing button that gets pushed every time Ailes and Company want their audience to respond like the flinching sheep they are.”
“All of a sudden, it was a contest, and because the underdog is almost always a crowd favorite, the fans got behind the underdog.”
“Shrouded in underdog status, the unit hit a No. 10 spot in 1971 with R&B single "You're the Reason Why," and two years later they went to No. 14 on the charts with "It's Forever.”
The Huffington Post: Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin: Dog Ears Music: Volume 144
“After that, the underdog is fighting a battle up a steep hill and is not likely to recover lost ground.”
What a Bunch of Apes! « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website
“Of course, the underdog is not always right, and nor are the Palestinians, backed by the power of the Arab states and Iran, exactly the underdog.”
“The underdog is always challenging the front-runner to a debate.”
“The first rule for every heavy favorite playing against an upstart underdog is to attack early and crush the other team's spirit as quickly as you can.”
“The reason you are the underdog is because eighty percent of America wants the Iraq occupation to end, and you want to stay for fifty to one hundred years. —”
“The underdog is what keeps you from quitting every thing you do that requires faith, hope, and enormous effort to even have a sliver of a chance to succeed.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘underdog’.
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metaphoric references to dogs
As an ongoing part of my project, Dogs in Metaphor and Idiom, Illustrated, (www.metaphordogs.org) I am continually adding terms. If you know a term that fi...
dog, alpha male, at bay, bark, bird dog, bitch, bitchin, bloodhound, bulldog, canaille, canines, cerberus and 131 more...
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bbc uk china vocab.
conservationists, estimate, threats, infertility, eating away at, endangered, furry, panel, in trouble, gongs, triumphed, caps and 1007 more...
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How low can you go?
A list of words that does the opposite of raising the bar
underscore, underwear, underachiever, underrated, underbite, undercapitalization, undercharged, underfloor, underground, underexposed, underfed, underboss and 105 more...
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Noah's Park
Hello, and Welcome™! Come and visit our most diverse land of our Animalesque™ adventures. Here at Noah's Park™ we have Virtually All You'd Ever Want To See™. An experience that is related to ani...
sheep's eyes, doe-eyed, cat-eyed, bug-eyed, cat's paw, black swan, leapfrog, menagerie, cold turkey, card shark, snail's pace, bull's eye and 362 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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KaeZoo's Words
flingers, unhinged, driven, flanked, arboreal, venerable, endearing, iconoclastic, fletcher, competent, fireproof, cavernous and 215 more...
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Animalia Wordia
Words or short phrases with animal names in them. Since I already have a dedicated list for 'monkey' words I shall leave them out of this one for the moment.
paper tiger, pigeon-hearted, lion-hearted, sacred cow, chicken heart, fraidy cat, scaredy-cat, snake oil, can of worms, snake pit, rat's nest, stool pigeon and 114 more...
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vivek's list
flibbertigibbet, droll, reticence, prelude, erinaceous, brinkmanship, depone, inaniloquent, limerance, pronk, onomatopoeia, oxymoron and 385 more...
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Word Pairs
pair of words used together always
road hog, cozy up, get stoned, cropping up, snowed under, cap-a-pie, lock-step, wet blanket, underdog, gatecrasher, guinea pig, wallflower and 9 more...
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Complicated complexes
Complices?
god, oedipus, electra, castration, inferiority, messianic, persecution, napoleon, superiority, military-industrial, apartment, vitamin b and 2 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, U
udder, undercarriage, umpteen, umbrage, upholstery, unnerving, ubiquitous, ultraviolet, untoward, upheaval, unabashed, uncanny and 86 more...
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dog words
cynic, cynosure, procyon, sirius, quinsy, hound, dachshund, keeshond, corgi, canaille, canary, canicular and 14 more...
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New Words
New Words - Building my own vocabulary
brownfield, greenfield, behalf, pet peeve, lead time, mock, proxy, craftsman, cliff, Nimble, Awkward, craftsmanship and 85 more...
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U is for Up Your Nose With A Rubber Hose
My U Words
ubiquitous, underdog, underpowered, up your nose with..., under dog days, uncanny, umlaut, undercarriage
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Vocabulary Week 1
Vocab. words for 7th grade Language
parapet, agility, wail, passive, catamaran, acclaim, innate, underdog, colossal, retrieve
Tweets
Looking for tweets for underdog.
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