underaction

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/ˌʌndəɹˈækʃən/

noun

subplot; a minor event incidental or subsidiary to the main story.

Scrabble 14
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Meanings

noununderaction (countable and uncountable, plural underactions)

plural underactions

  1. countableobsoleteuncountablesubplot; a minor event incidental or subsidiary to the main story.

    The least and most trivial episodes or underactions […] are parts necessary or convenient to carry on the main design.

    1697, Virgil, “Dedication to Virgil's Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page [151]
  2. countableuncountableInefficient action.

Origin

From under- + action.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

denunciator
Cite this entry
APA

underaction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underaction

MLA

“underaction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underaction. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “underaction,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/underaction.

Source: underaction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.