• (RP) IPA: /ˈʌndəkʌɹ(ə)nt/
• (GA) IPA: /ˈʌndɚˌkʌɹənt/

undercurrent (plural undercurrents)

1. A current#Noun|current of water#Noun|water which flow#Verb|flows under the surface#Noun|surface, and often in a different direction from surface currents.
2. (figuratively) A tendency of feeling#Noun|feeling or opinion that is concealed#Adjective|concealed rather than exposed#Adjective|exposed.

   Synonyms: subcurrent, subtext

   The meeting was pervaded with an undercurrent of dread, as the managers tried not to admit that firings were looming.

   • 1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XXVI, in Daniel Deronda, volume II, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, OCLC 775411 ↗, book III (Maidens Choosing), page 166 ↗:

     All the while there was a busy undercurrent in her, like the thought of a man who keeps up a dialogue while he is considering how he can slip away.

• French: courant sous-marin, sous-courant
• German: Unterströmung
• Italian: corrente sottomarina
• Portuguese: corrente submarina
• Russian: подводное течение
• Spanish: contracorriente

• French: courant sous-jacent
• German: Unterton
• Portuguese: tendência, fundo
• Spanish: trasfondo

undercurrent (undercurrents, present participle undercurrenting; past and past participle undercurrented)

1. (transitive, also, figuratively) To flow#Verb|flow under some surface#Noun|surface.