How to Use underlie in a Sentence

underlie

verb
  • A tile floor underlies the rug.
  • A theme of revenge underlies much of her writing.
  • The river is underlain by limestone.
  • We discussed the principles that underlay their methods.
  • What a levy won't do is resolve the underlying debt on its own.
    — Angelica Leicht, CBS News, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Turns out there are a lot of twists and turns that underlie this seemingly easy task.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes, 12 May 2021
  • But underlying it all was the sense that this is more than a fight for Joshua.
    — Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 1 June 2026
  • Training, both stressed, underlies all of it.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 1 June 2026
  • Still, the underlying trend for hiring is tepid at best.
    — Andrea Riquier, USA Today, 10 Mar. 2026
  • But the fact is that the underlying problems are often not the same.
    — Mike Muller, Quartz Africa, 15 Nov. 2019
  • Hope is an underlying theme of the album.
    — Deasia Paige, AJC.com, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The goal is to decode the test and surface the underlying need.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Since oil and stocks are both risky, this could underlie the tendency of the two to move in tandem.
    — Bob Henderson, WSJ, 6 Dec. 2022
  • Six months old to two year old, their underlying condition is youth.
    — ABC News, 31 Aug. 2025
  • The underlying metrics are just as rosy.
    — Kevin Kurz, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2026
  • There is a major issue with our underlying cloud provider.
    — Tasmin Lockwood,katrina Bishop, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2025
  • But the Capri is not just a different body on top of the same underlying car.
    — James Morris, Fortune Europe, 9 Aug. 2024
  • As the climate warms, permafrost – frozen rock and soil – which underlies the island, thaws.
    — Paul Bierman, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026
  • But the underlying ideas sting harder now.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 15 June 2026
  • The investor holds a direct claim on the underlying asset, not a share of a fund.
    — Ivan Kan, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
  • The underlying ethos seems to be to found a movement, not prop a candidate.
    — Jasper Craven, The New Republic, 11 Feb. 2020
  • Vicens points to the underlying numbers as proof that his ideas are sinking in.
    — Jordan Campbell, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • The defamation case has been delayed while the time for an appeal of the underlying claims runs its course.
    — Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The truth of the matter is, underlying all of this, the economy is strong.
    — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 15 Jan. 2025
  • Pace is one of the six accusers whose stories underlie the charges against Kelly.
    — Maria Puente, USA TODAY, 19 Aug. 2021
  • In fact, public records bear out the voting patterns that underlie these concerns in key states.
    — Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News, 22 July 2021
  • That pride underlies Gruden’s smartest-guy-in-the-room approach.
    — Jenny Vrentas and Greg Bishop, SI.com, 6 Sep. 2019
  • The underlying issue there was his freedom of speech.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Which brings us to a simple but crucial mental shift underlying the trend.
    — Alexander Puutio, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The reason isn't that the underlying models are dumb.
    — Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 8 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'underlie.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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