underworld means the world of the dead, located underneath the world of the living; the afterlife. It carries an Arena rating of 1669, earned across 15 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, underworld ranks #218 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #328 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #363 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #495 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
underworld is pronounced /ˈʌndəˌwɜːld/.
Why “underworld” is a great word
The subterranean realm of the dead, or by metaphorical extension, the hidden society of organized crime and illicit enterprise. From the English prefix under- ("beneath") + world ("the earth, realm of existence"), first recorded c. 1600–10. Unlike "Hades," which is anchored in the specific mythos of a classical god and his domain, or "underclass," which denotes a socio-economic stratum, "underworld" is a chillingly generic and portable abyss of vertical geography and moral inversion. It is the steam rising from subway grates at 3 a.m., the sealed envelope passed beneath a café table, and the quiet handshake in a smoke-clouded room where no names are spoken—each a kingdom beneath the kingdom, a testament to humanity’s instinct to map both its fears and its transgressions onto a deeper, darker level.
Etymology
From under- + world.
noun
- The world of the dead, located underneath the world of the living; the afterlife.e.g.“In Hindu scriptures, the four-eyed dogs Śārvara and Śyāma guard the underworld's entrance.”
- That part of society that is engaged in crime or vice, and particularly those involved in organized crime.e.g.“A disproportionate amount of local politicians have connections to the underworld.”
- The portion of a game that is set below ground.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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