underdog

See also: Underdog

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Indo-European *-tér

Proto-Indo-European *h₁entér

Proto-Indo-European *h₂én

Proto-Indo-European *-dʰi

?

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰí

Proto-Indo-European *-ér

Proto-Indo-European *(H)n̥dʰér

Proto-Germanic *under

Proto-West Germanic *undar

Old English under-

Middle English under-

English under-

Old English *dogga

Middle English dogge

English dog

English underdog

From under- + dog.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʌndəˌdɒɡ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʌndɚˌdɔɡ/, /ˈʌndɚˌdɑɡ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

underdog (plural underdogs)

1. A competitor thought unlikely to win.

   Synonyms: little guy, rank outsider

   They were the underdogs in the basketball competition.

   • 2004 August 30, The New Yorker, page 40:

     In Athens, the Americans are underdogs to the Chinese and the Canadians (the Canadians!)

   • 2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 7 August 2020:

     The visit of a Championship side would not normally send a shiver down their spine but they knew that Wigan were underdogs who would snap at their heels and that they possessed a potent bite if they were not kept on a firm leash.

   • 2022 July 23, Guy Lodge, “Streaming: The Phantom of the Open and the best underdog sports films”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 August 2022:

     You certainly can’t imagine an American version of Flitcroft’s story: Hollywood finds little ironic joy in shambling, defeated men, which is why they have a monopoly on underdog sports films to begin with.

   • 2026 October 10, Chris Johnston, “Does Asia need its own Eurovision?”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 14:

     [Assaf Blecher] believes the smaller Asian entrants will “be able to profit from the underdog factor—Eurovision loves underdogs”.

2. Somebody at a disadvantage.

   Synonym: bottom dog

   • 1942, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casablanca:

     Laszlo: Isn't it strange that you always happened to be fighting on the side of the underdog?
     Rick: Yes. I found that a very expensive hobby, too. But then I never was much of a businessman.

3. 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.

Antonyms

• favourite, favorite
• sure bet
• safe bet
• top dog
• shoo-in

Derived terms

• underdoggish
• underdoggism
• underdoggy
• underdogism

Translations

competitor thought unlikely to win

• Arabic: مُسْتَضْعَف m (mustaḍʕaf), غَيْر مُرَشَّح m (ḡayr muraššaḥ)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: аутса́йдер m (autsájder)
• Catalan: ventafocs (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 魚腩 / 鱼腩 (jyu⁴ naam⁵) (sports)

  Mandarin: 失敗者 / 失败者 (zh) (shībàizhě), 受迫者 (shòupòzhě), 劣勢方 / 劣势方 (lièshì fāng), 不被看好的一方 (bù bèi kàn hǎo de yī fāng), 弱旅, 魚腩 / 鱼腩 (zh) (yúnǎn) (sports)

• Czech: outsider (cs) m
• Danish: outsider (da) c, underdog c, underhund c
• Dutch: underdog (nl) m
• Esperanto: eksterulo
• Finnish: altavastaaja (fi)
• French: outsider (fr) m
• German: Außenseiter (de) m, Underdog (de) m
• Hebrew: אנדרדוג m (ánderdog)
• Hungarian: esélytelen (hu)
• Indonesian: bedebah (id), pecundang (id)
• Italian: perdente (it) m, outsider (it) m, underdog (it) m
• Japanese: 敗残者 (ja) (はいざんしゃ, haizansha)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: а́утсајдер m (áutsajder)
• Polish: słabsza, niedoceniana strona f
• Portuguese: azarão m
• Russian: аутса́йдер (ru) m (autsájdɛr), андердо́г (ru) m (andɛrdóg), проигра́вший (ru) m (proigrávšij), побеждённая сторона́ f (pobeždjónnaja storoná), подчини́вшаяся сторона́ f (podčinívšajasja storoná), неуда́чник (ru) m (neudáčnik)
• Spanish: tapado (es) m (Argentina), cenicienta (es) f, maleta (es) m or f (Mexico), mindundi (es) m, último mono m
• Swedish: underdog (sv) c, mindrevärdig c, loser (sv) c
• Thai: มวยรอง (muai-rɔɔng), ไก่รองบ่อน (th) (gài-rɔɔng-bɔ̀n), เบี้ยล่าง (th) (bîia-lâang)
• Turkish: ezilen kişi

somebody at a disadvantage

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 弱者 (zh) (ruòzhě), 處於劣勢的人 / 处于劣势的人 (chǔyú lièshì de rén), 屌丝 (zh) (diǎosī)

• Danish: underdog c, underhund c
• Esperanto: malfavorulo
• Finnish: altavastaaja (fi)
• Hungarian: hátrányos helyzetű, elnyomott (hu)
• Icelandic: lítilmagni (is) m
• Italian: oppresso (it) m, underdog (it) m
• Japanese: 弱者 (ja) (じゃくしゃ, jakusha)
• Polish: osoba w niekorzystnej sytuacji f
• Portuguese: desfavorecido (pt)
• Spanish: sotanero m

See also

• also-ran
• dark horse

Anagrams

• grounded, undergod

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English underdog.

Noun

underdog c (singular definite underdoggen, plural indefinite underdogge)

1. underdog

   Synonym: underhund

Declension

Declension of underdog

common gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	underdog	underdoggen	underdogge	underdoggene
genitive	underdogs	underdoggens	underdogges	underdoggenes

Further reading

• “underdog” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English underdog.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʏndər.dɔk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: un‧der‧dog

Noun

underdog m (plural underdogs, diminutive underdogje n)

1. underdog (competitor or someone at a disadvantage)

Further reading

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “underdog”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
• “underdog” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English underdog.

Noun

underdog m (invariable)

1. underdog
   • 2023 June 28, Session of Parliament, spoken by Giuseppe Conte:

     Oggi bisogna dire alla Presidente Meloni che la favola dell'underdog, della svantaggiata, che ha astutamente lei elaborato non funziona più. Gli italiani pretendono risultati e non si accontentano più della favola di chi si è auto-rappresentato come la novità della politica....

     Today we must tell President Meloni that the story of her being an underdog, of being disadvantaged, that she cleverly devised no longer works. The Italian people demand results and they will no longer settle with the story of a self-proclaimed novelty of politics....

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English underdog.

Noun

underdog c

1. underdog

Declension

Declension of underdog

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	underdog	underdogs
	definite	underdogen	underdogens
plural	indefinite	underdogs	underdogs
	definite	underdogsen	underdogsens

Declension of underdog

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	underdog	underdogs
	definite	underdogen	underdogens
plural	indefinite	underdogar	underdogars
	definite	underdogarna	underdogarnas

References

• “underdog”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “underdog”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “underdog”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)