" underhandedness "

1: as in deviousness, sneakiness;

•  Synonyms : 

•  artfulness,

•  caginess,

•  craftiness,

•  cunning,

•  deviousness,

•  foxiness,

•  oiliness,

•  shadiness,

•  sharpness,

•  shiftiness,

•  shrewdness,

•  slickness,

•  slipperiness,

•  slyness,

•  sneakiness,

•  treachery,

•  wiliness,

•  artifice,

•  chicane,

•  chicanery,

•  gamesmanship,

•  hanky-panky,

•  jiggery-pokery,

•  jugglery,

•  legerdemain,

•  skulduggery,

•  subterfuge,

•  trickery,

•  wile,

•  crookedness,

•  crookery,

•  deceit,

•  deceitfulness,

•  deception,

•  deceptiveness,

•  dishonesty,

•  dissimulation,

•  double-dealing,

•  dupery,

•  duplicity,

•  guile,

•  guilefulness,

•  hypocrisy,

•  insincerity,

•  fakery,

•  humbuggery,

•  imposture,

•  quackery,

•  dirty pool,

•  dirty tricks,

•  design,

•  plotting,

•  scheming,

•  secrecy,

•  stealth

•  Antonyms : 

•  artlessness,

•  forthrightness,

•  guilelessness,

•  ingenuousness,

•  sincerity,

•  candidness,

•  candor,

•  directness,

•  openness,

•  plainness,

•  plainspokenness

1: given to or marked by cheating and deception;

  * e.g., " ... the commercial is a part of an underhanded PR campaign to whitewash the company's environmental record "

•  Synonyms : 

•  bent,

•  crooked,

•  deceptive,

•  dishonest,

•  double-dealing,

•  duplicitous,

•  fast,

•  fraudulent,

•  guileful,

•  rogue,

•  shady,

•  sharp,

•  shifty,

•  underhand

•  Antonyms : 

•  aboveboard,

•  honest,

•  straight

2: undertaken or done so as to escape being observed or known by others;

  * e.g., " ... an underhanded attempt at infiltrating the other party's headquarters "

•  Synonyms : 

•  backstairs,

•  behind-the-scenes,

•  clandestine,

•  covert,

•  furtive,

•  hole-and-corner,

•  hugger-mugger,

•  hush-hush,

•  private,

•  privy,

•  secret,

•  sneak,

•  sneaking,

•  sneaky,

•  stealth,

•  stealthy,

•  surreptitious,

•  undercover,

•  underground,

•  underhand

•  Antonyms : 

•  open,

•  overt,

•  public