underplot

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noun

A subplot; a plot that is not the main plot of a story.

Scrabble 12
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Meanings

noununderplot (plural underplots)

plural underplots

  1. A subplot; a plot that is not the main plot of a story.

    I have not been able to discover the source of the very curious underplot of The Captives.

    1882-89, A Collection Of Old English Plays, Vol. IV
    1 more example

    Thus, again to quote Mr. Homer Smith, it has been held that 'In general the pastoral incidents serve as an underplot, utterly foreign in spirit to the main plot.'

    1906, Walter W. Greg, Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama
  2. A secret scheme or trick.
verbunderplot (third-person singular simple present underplots, present participle underplotting, simple past and past participle underplotted)

present singular third person underplots · participle present underplotting · participle past underplotted · past underplotted

  1. intransitiveTo form secret schemes or plots.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
subplot

Origin

From under- + plot.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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