Meanings
prepositional phrase
- idiomaticWithout attracting notice; in an undetected or secretive manner.
Institutional change has not happened. But it's done quietly under the radar at lots of places.
2004 August 30, Andrea Sachs, “About-Face”, in Time1 more example
Look, we keep our hand in with Maitland as well as this Partick thing. But we do it under the radar.
2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 48
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
An allusion to flying an airplane at an altitude too low for radar detection.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 不為人知地 /不为人知地, 低調地 /低调地
- 不為人知地 /不为人知地 (bùwéirénzhī de)in an undetected or secretive manner
- 低調地 /低调地 (dīdiào de)in an undetected or secretive manner
- 悄悄地 (qiāoqiāo de)in an undetected or secretive manner
Finnish salaa, piilossa
- salaain an undetected or secretive manner
- piilossain an undetected or secretive manner
- katveessain an undetected or secretive manner
French sous les radars
- sous les radarsin an undetected or secretive manner
Hungarian észrevétlenül
- észrevétlenülin an undetected or secretive manner
Indonesian diam-diam
- diam-diamin an undetected or secretive manner
Russian под радаром
- под радаром (pod radarom)in an undetected or secretive manner
Swedish under radarn
- under radarnin an undetected or secretive manner
Cite this entry
APA
under the radar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20radar
MLA
“under the radar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20radar. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “under the radar,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20radar.
Source: under the radar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.