Dictionary

underling en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈʌndɚlɪŋ/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈɐndəlɪŋ/ (Australia)
• (California) audio
• /ˈʌndəlɪŋ/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English underling, from Old English underling. By surface analysis, under + -ling.

Meanings

1. A subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority.
   • So read the email from Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, and a billionaire many times over. It would be read by more than 1,000 of his underlings at the company. 2023 November 7, Rob Copeland, “‘Ray, This Is a Religion’”, in New York Magazine:
   • His decision to stay at the compound in the face of possible assassination set an example, making it more difficult for his underlings to cut and run. “Anyone who left is a traitor,” Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, told its members a few hours after the invasion started. 2022 December 7, Simon Shuster, “2022 Person of the Year: Volodymyr Zelensky”, in Time, archived from the original on 04 Jan 2023:
   • "I love not that underlings should perceive my wisdom." 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
   • The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], lines 140-141:
2. A low, wretched person.

Forms

Antonyms

overling

Descendants

Unterling

Relateds

groundling · hireling

Synonyms

superior

Translations (17)

ja 下っ端 (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · fi alainen (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · cmn 下屬 /下属 (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · ru ме́лкая со́шка (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · de Untertan (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · hu beosztott (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · nl ondergeschikte (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · ru подчинённый (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · th ลูกน้อง (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · jv sosoran (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · fi käskyläinen (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · fr sous-fifre (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · fr subordonné (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · de Untergebener (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · la subiectus (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · de Unterling (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority) · de Untergebene (a subordinate, or person of lesser rank or authority)