Definitions for underworldˈʌn dərˌwɜrld

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Random House Webster's College Dictionary

un•der•worldˈʌn dərˌwɜrld(n.)

  1. the criminal element of human society.

    Category: Sociology

  2. (in the religious beliefs of various cultures, esp. the ancient Greeks and Romans) a realm below the surface of the earth in which the spirits of the dead reside.

    Category: Mythology

  3. Archaic. the earth.

Origin of underworld:

1600–10

Princeton's WordNet

  1. underworld(noun)

    the criminal class

  2. Hell, Hades, infernal region, netherworld, Scheol, underworld(noun)

    (religion) the world of the dead

    "No one goes to Hades with all his immense wealth"-Theognis

Kernerman English Learner's Dictionary

  1. underworld(noun)ˈʌn dərˌwɜrld

    the world of criminals and criminal activity

    the criminal underworld

Wiktionary

  1. underworld(Noun)

    That part of society that is engaged in crime or vice.

  2. underworld(Noun)

    The world of the dead, located underneath the world of the living; the afterlife.

  3. Underworld(Noun)

    A name for the realm of ancestors in Heathenry.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Underworld(noun)

    the lower of inferior world; the world which is under the heavens; the earth

  2. Underworld(noun)

    the mythological place of departed souls; Hades

  3. Underworld(noun)

    the portion of the world which is below the horizon; the opposite side of the world; the antipodes

  4. Underworld(noun)

    the inferior part of mankind


Translations for underworld

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

underworld(noun)

the part of the population that gets its living from crime etc

A member of the underworld told the police where the murderer was hiding.

Get even more translations for underworld »


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