underworld
54
7.0
- noun
- /ˈʌndərˌwɜrld/
:
hampa
- Lemoyne has long been considered a major racketeer in the Crescent City underworld scene.
- criminal underworld
- underworld figures
- urban underworld
I've also been reading this book by Diego and Vedic Codes of the Underworld about criminals.
- I've also been reading this book by Diego and Vedic Codes of the Underworld about criminals.
- That's the dark underworld and the surface world which most of us are are in.
- I do think that there, you know, some people wanted to describe the Silk Road as like this evil underworld where there was no good.
- Because the model that I took on, obviously Liverpool is renowned for it's, it's drug underworld.
- You think you're bringing in zebras in the Puerto Valletta these and you think you don't have to grease the palms of the underworld?
- The criminals of the underworld came out and in the confusion preyed on the elderly and defenseless young girls.
- They both do kind of underworld stuff like the drug trade, contraband, illegal, low key human trafficking, but like magical being trafficking.
- All right, illegal Underworld Inc, illegal illegal gambling.
Examples
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For five years, Rex Racer took orders from the criminal underworld.
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The investigation uncovered ties to various groups in the underworld that were involved in illegal trafficking.
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But they still consider you part of the underworld.
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The death of my father sent shock waves through the underworld.
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But he is also part of an underworld that is corrupting the holy city.
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Has the entire criminal underworld gone soft since I've been locked up?
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Nick hails from an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx, where the underworld of organized crime is an unmentionable presence.
Academic text (1997) -
The man we want is Emile Leopold Locque, an enforcer in the Brussels underworld.
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The criminal organization operated secretly within the underworld of the city.
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After years of working undercover, she managed to infiltrate the city's underworld and gather crucial evidence.
Synonyms
72
3.4
Illegal acts by groups that plan and work together to make money
13
7.5
A part of a city controlled by criminal gangs
The world of organized gangs involved in crime
How Powerful
54
7.0
210
7.9
8
4.5
180
5.3
832
2.8
- Formal
3
6.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
underworld = world (semi-transparent) = under + world
The components 'under' + 'world' are clear, but the specialised metaphorical sense referring specifically to organised crime is a conventionalized extension and not directly deducible from the literal parts for all learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'under' from base_words to prefix]
Etymology
Underworld comes from under 'below' and world 'part of life or society'. So it paints a picture of a hidden, 'below' part of society, which is why we call the secret world of organised crime the underworld.