as in subordinate
one who is of lower rank and typically under the authority of another
the real estate tycoon has a whole army of underlings to attend to the details
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Recent Examples of underling
Combs did so by wielding an iron fist, exacting loyalty from his underlings with violence and threats.
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Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2024
While this is intentionally a casual Friday dress office, these are very bespoke underlings, but only one, glaringly, is dressed to vibrant excess, if not success.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 8 Oct. 2024
From his prison cell at Corcoran, witnesses testified at Chavez’s trial, Estrada controlled a network of underlings who collected money and sold drugs in nearly every prison yard in California.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2024
Davis saw Poor Devil, as the project was renamed, as an inversion of It’s a Wonderful Life: A bumbling but lovable underling in the afterlife attempts to earn a promotion — only not by saving a good man but by convincing one to sell his soul.
—Alex Bhattacharji, Rolling Stone, 4 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for underling 
Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2024
While this is intentionally a casual Friday dress office, these are very bespoke underlings, but only one, glaringly, is dressed to vibrant excess, if not success.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 8 Oct. 2024
From his prison cell at Corcoran, witnesses testified at Chavez’s trial, Estrada controlled a network of underlings who collected money and sold drugs in nearly every prison yard in California.
—Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2024
Davis saw Poor Devil, as the project was renamed, as an inversion of It’s a Wonderful Life: A bumbling but lovable underling in the afterlife attempts to earn a promotion — only not by saving a good man but by convincing one to sell his soul.
—Alex Bhattacharji, Rolling Stone, 4 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for underling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underling
Noun
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Throughout history, the biggest threat to autocrats usually came from their own subordinates.Yuval Noah Harari, WIRED, 3 Jan. 2025
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Conrad Empson Photo: Bravo/Zev Schmitz/Bravo Bosun Below Deck Mediterranean Season 3 — This bosun was the youngest of the deck team but also in charge, which rankled a lot of his subordinates, especially João Franco.Brian Moylan, Vulture, 31 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Also joining the cast are Sam C. Wilson as Trap Jaw, Kojo Attah as Tri-Klops and Hafthor Bjornsson as Goat Man — three of Skeletor's henchmen.Lawrence Yee, People.com, 21 Dec. 2024
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The series also stars Timothy Dalton as an evil land baron and Jerome Flynn as his henchman, along with Darren Mann, Brian Geraghty, Aminah Nieves, Michelle Randolph, Sebastian Roché.James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Not even the dynamic duos of Joy and Anxiety, Deadpool and Wolverine, Gru and his minions or Paul Atreides and those massive sandworms could push the 2024 box office to pre-pandemic heights.Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 2 Jan. 2025
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The Inflation Reduction Act set the United States on a new green industrial trajectory that even Trump and his minions will have trouble reversing.Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Underling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underling. Accessed 21 Jan. 2025.
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