Underbelly
noun
The lower or hidden part of something.
The dark underbelly of society shows a world of crime and poverty.
Often appears as...
- dark underbelly
- societal underbelly
noun
The weakest or most unpleasant part of something.
The underbelly of the government is the corruption and scandals that often go unnoticed.
Often appears as...
- government underbelly
- organizational underbelly
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
The soft lower side of the body of a reptile or amphibian.
The turtle flipped on its back, revealing its soft underbelly.
Often appears as...
- turtle underbelly
- snake underbelly
Usage tips
Technical
noun
The lower or hidden part of something.
The dark underbelly of society shows a world of crime and poverty.
Often appears as...
- dark underbelly
- societal underbelly
noun
The weakest or most unpleasant part of something.
The underbelly of the government is the corruption and scandals that often go unnoticed.
Often appears as...
- government underbelly
- organizational underbelly
Usage tips
Disapproving
noun
The soft lower side of the body of a reptile or amphibian.
The turtle flipped on its back, revealing its soft underbelly.
Often appears as...
- turtle underbelly
- snake underbelly
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Metaphorical Use
Often used metaphorically to discuss hidden or negative aspects of something that seem better on the surface.
Many films explore the underbelly of urban life.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Connotation
'Underbelly' typically has a negative connotation, implying something unsavory or undesirable.
The report uncovered the underbelly of the political system.
Pro Tip 3/3Public vs Private
Refers to what is not immediately visible or presented to the public, usually hidden intentionally.
Celebrities often have a hidden underbelly that fans don't see.
Pro Tip 1/3Metaphorical Use
Often used metaphorically to discuss hidden or negative aspects of something that seem better on the surface.
Many films explore the underbelly of urban life.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Connotation
'Underbelly' typically has a negative connotation, implying something unsavory or undesirable.
The report uncovered the underbelly of the political system.
Pro Tip 3/3Public vs Private
Refers to what is not immediately visible or presented to the public, usually hidden intentionally.
Celebrities often have a hidden underbelly that fans don't see.
Pro Tip 1/3Metaphorical Use
Often used metaphorically to discuss hidden or negative aspects of something that seem better on the surface.
Many films explore the underbelly of urban life.
Pro Tip 2/3Negative Connotation
'Underbelly' typically has a negative connotation, implying something unsavory or undesirable.
The report uncovered the underbelly of the political system.
Pro Tip 3/3Public vs Private
Refers to what is not immediately visible or presented to the public, usually hidden intentionally.
Celebrities often have a hidden underbelly that fans don't see.
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Video examples
Safari Live - Day 276 PIPE...
they've got this long tail so the tail is what's closest to us at the moment very difficult to make out and what's actually going on but the tail is closest to us and it rolls round and protects their head and the head tucks in and those hard scales will protect the soft underbelly where the legs and the face is so that they don't get hurt when things like lions come across them
Video examples
Marc Goodman: A vision...
and that's informed my perspective on things. I've been a street police officer, an undercover investigator, a counter-terrorism strategist, and I've worked in more than 70 countries around the world. I've had to see more than my fair share of violence and the darker underbelly of society,
Video examples
Why gun violence can't...
Why? I kind of hate to say it, because it gets to the dark underbelly of advertising, which is if you tell a big enough lie enough times, eventually that lie becomes the truth. And that's exactly what's happened here. The corporate gun lobby has spent billions of dollars
Video examples
Social Media as Fuel for...
maybe we measure that by do they retweet it if they don't care they're not retweeting then they're not wasting your their friends time on what anything I would have said but people would retweet it and then this was my evidence that there was an underserved underbelly of
Video examples
A glimpse of life on the...
renouncing materialism, traditional jobs and university degrees in exchange for a glimmer of adventure. Others come from the underbelly of society, never given a chance to mobilize foster care dropouts, teenage runaways escaping abuse and unforgiving homes.
Video examples
A vision of crimes in...
police officer an undercover investigator a counterterrorism strategist and I've worked in more than 70 countries around the world I've had to see more than my fair share of violence and the darker underbelly of society and that's informed my opinions
Video examples
Dilip Ratha: The hidden...
That means that for the two years or three years of his life, he is basically sending money to pay for the recruitment fees. The family doesn't get to see any of it. It is not only Dubai, it is the dark underbelly of every major city in the world.
Video examples
Genghis Khan’s Lost...
And, you know, it was really it was almost like the mountain was showing us its underbelly, it was showing us a window into the sub-surface, you know. And it would be in the roots of one of those trees that my life would really change.
Video examples
Elizabeth Lindsey:...
the sequence and direction of waves, the flight patterns of certain birds. Even the slightest hint of color on the underbelly of a cloud would inform them and help them navigate with the keenest accuracy.
Video examples
Swimming with Bull...
if this was murky water a flash of his white leg might look like a fish underbelly and cause an attack
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 276 PIPE...
they've got this long tail so the tail is what's closest to us at the moment very difficult to make out and what's actually going on but the tail is closest to us and it rolls round and protects their head and the head tucks in and those hard scales will protect the soft underbelly where the legs and the face is so that they don't get hurt when things like lions come across them
Video examples
Marc Goodman: A vision...
and that's informed my perspective on things. I've been a street police officer, an undercover investigator, a counter-terrorism strategist, and I've worked in more than 70 countries around the world. I've had to see more than my fair share of violence and the darker underbelly of society,
Video examples
Why gun violence can't...
Why? I kind of hate to say it, because it gets to the dark underbelly of advertising, which is if you tell a big enough lie enough times, eventually that lie becomes the truth. And that's exactly what's happened here. The corporate gun lobby has spent billions of dollars
Video examples
Social Media as Fuel for...
maybe we measure that by do they retweet it if they don't care they're not retweeting then they're not wasting your their friends time on what anything I would have said but people would retweet it and then this was my evidence that there was an underserved underbelly of
Video examples
A glimpse of life on the...
renouncing materialism, traditional jobs and university degrees in exchange for a glimmer of adventure. Others come from the underbelly of society, never given a chance to mobilize foster care dropouts, teenage runaways escaping abuse and unforgiving homes.
Video examples
A vision of crimes in...
police officer an undercover investigator a counterterrorism strategist and I've worked in more than 70 countries around the world I've had to see more than my fair share of violence and the darker underbelly of society and that's informed my opinions
Video examples
Dilip Ratha: The hidden...
That means that for the two years or three years of his life, he is basically sending money to pay for the recruitment fees. The family doesn't get to see any of it. It is not only Dubai, it is the dark underbelly of every major city in the world.
Video examples
Genghis Khan’s Lost...
And, you know, it was really it was almost like the mountain was showing us its underbelly, it was showing us a window into the sub-surface, you know. And it would be in the roots of one of those trees that my life would really change.
Video examples
Elizabeth Lindsey:...
the sequence and direction of waves, the flight patterns of certain birds. Even the slightest hint of color on the underbelly of a cloud would inform them and help them navigate with the keenest accuracy.
Video examples
Swimming with Bull...
if this was murky water a flash of his white leg might look like a fish underbelly and cause an attack
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Shonda Rhimes
American Producer
Scandal' has always lived in this dark place with this idea that Washington is filled with this underbelly of monsters, that if the real world understood how dark, twisted and corrupt it really was, they would never agree with our government or want to be part of it. It's been kind of fun to live in that world. It felt like a fictional world.
Quote examples
Paula Hawkins
American Politician
I have a fascination with the nasty things people do to each other and the way relationships go wrong, and how there can be this very dark underbelly to seemingly normal, mundane domestic life. They're the stories in the newspapers I always find interesting. That's not a very nice thing to admit to, is it?
Quote examples
Ted Dekker
Indonesian Author
My research for 'Adam' affected me profoundly, particularly the research into evil's underbelly. We tend not to think about evil until it pokes its head out of the air about us and then it tends to scare us silly. As well it should.
Quote examples
Peter Mullan
Scottish Actor
Watching people just look out for themselves, I think, is extremely interesting. It goes right back to something like 'The Beggar's Opera' - the underbelly of society, how it operates, and how that reflects their so-called betters.
Quote examples
Janet Varney
American Actress
When you share something about your adolescence, it's a way to roll over and show your soft underbelly when it comes to talking about your past and the person that you once were.
Quote examples
Russell Simmons
American Businessman
The thing about hip-hop is that it's from the underground, ideas from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognized.
Quote examples
Tim Miller
American Director
In 'Deadpool,' we stayed far away from the shiny, clean X-Men world. It's really the seedy underbelly of what's been shown in other superhero films.
Quote examples
Richard Ashcroft
English Musician
Creativity, for me, is almost like therapy; my songs take you into the underbelly of my mind, and there's some dark stuff in there.
Quote examples
Natasha Lyonne
American Actress
In my experience of living, for a time, in the underbelly of society, I spent a lot of time in various holding cells.
Quote examples
Watkin Tudor Jones
South African Musician
Zef is the underbelly of the Afrikaans culture, but it also, like, is Afrikaans culture.
Quote examples
Shonda Rhimes
American Producer
Scandal' has always lived in this dark place with this idea that Washington is filled with this underbelly of monsters, that if the real world understood how dark, twisted and corrupt it really was, they would never agree with our government or want to be part of it. It's been kind of fun to live in that world. It felt like a fictional world.
Quote examples
Paula Hawkins
American Politician
I have a fascination with the nasty things people do to each other and the way relationships go wrong, and how there can be this very dark underbelly to seemingly normal, mundane domestic life. They're the stories in the newspapers I always find interesting. That's not a very nice thing to admit to, is it?
Quote examples
Ted Dekker
Indonesian Author
My research for 'Adam' affected me profoundly, particularly the research into evil's underbelly. We tend not to think about evil until it pokes its head out of the air about us and then it tends to scare us silly. As well it should.
Quote examples
Peter Mullan
Scottish Actor
Watching people just look out for themselves, I think, is extremely interesting. It goes right back to something like 'The Beggar's Opera' - the underbelly of society, how it operates, and how that reflects their so-called betters.
Quote examples
Janet Varney
American Actress
When you share something about your adolescence, it's a way to roll over and show your soft underbelly when it comes to talking about your past and the person that you once were.
Quote examples
Russell Simmons
American Businessman
The thing about hip-hop is that it's from the underground, ideas from the underbelly, from people who have mostly been locked out, who have not been recognized.
Quote examples
Tim Miller
American Director
In 'Deadpool,' we stayed far away from the shiny, clean X-Men world. It's really the seedy underbelly of what's been shown in other superhero films.
Quote examples
Richard Ashcroft
English Musician
Creativity, for me, is almost like therapy; my songs take you into the underbelly of my mind, and there's some dark stuff in there.
Quote examples
Natasha Lyonne
American Actress
In my experience of living, for a time, in the underbelly of society, I spent a lot of time in various holding cells.
Quote examples
Watkin Tudor Jones
South African Musician
Zef is the underbelly of the Afrikaans culture, but it also, like, is Afrikaans culture.
Example 1 of 10
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