a. | 1. | Lying under or beneath; |
2. | Fundamental; basic; | |
3. | Implicit; not immediately obvious; requiring careful scrutiny to discover; |
Adj. | 1. | underlying - in the nature of something though not readily apparent; "shortcomings inherent in our approach"; "an underlying meaning" Synonyms: implicit in, inherent |
2. | underlying - located beneath or below | |
3. | underlying - being or involving basic facts or principles; "the fundamental laws of the universe"; "a fundamental incompatibility between them"; "these rudimentary truths"; "underlying principles" Synonyms: rudimentary, fundamental |