verb · academic
underlie
UK/ˌʌndəˈlaɪ/US/ˌʌndərˈlaɪ/un·der·LIE
to be the cause or basis of something; to lie beneath and form the basis for
Examples
“Several theoretical assumptions underlie current models of economic growth.”
“The cultural factors that underlie voting behaviour deserve careful analysis in this paper.”
“What underlies the authors' argument is a concern about long‑term sustainability.”
Band 8 sentence
“Several theoretical assumptions underlie current models of economic growth, but empirical support for some of these assumptions remains limited.”
Collocations
- underlie a theory
- underlie an argument
Word family
Common mistakes
Many factors underlie to this phenomenon.→Many factors underlie this phenomenon.
The reason is underlie economic change.→The reason underlies economic change.
Say it for a higher band
5cause→6explain→7+underlie
Synonyms
form the basis of
be at the root of
Easily confused
underline
“The professor underlined the most important passages in the article.”
Related words
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In Sublist 6
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