Standard Lemma guide

undergrowth

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈʌndɚˌɡɹoʊθ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH1 N D ER0 G R OW2 TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The plants in a forest which only reach a relatively low height (such as shrubs and bushes).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • tangled undergrowth
  • clear the undergrowth
  • The hikers pushed through thick undergrowth.
  • The forest floor was covered with dense undergrowth.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the brush (small trees and bushes and ferns etc.) growing beneath taller trees in a wood or forest

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: underbrush, underwood

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: brush, brushwood, coppice, copse, thicket

Narrower terms: groundcover, ground cover

History

Etymology

From under- + growth. Cognate with West Frisian ûndergroei (“undergrowth”).

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: горски храсти (gorski hrasti) — plants which only reach a low height
  • Catalan: sotabosc — plants which only reach a low height
  • Catalan: malesa — plants which only reach a low height
  • Chichewa: thengo — plants which only reach a low height
  • Chinese: guànmùcóng — plants which only reach a low height
  • Czech: podrost — plants which only reach a low height
  • Dutch: ondergroei — plants which only reach a low height
  • Dutch: kreupelhout — plants which only reach a low height
  • Finnish: aluskasvillisuus — plants which only reach a low height
  • French: broussailles — plants which only reach a low height
  • French: sous-bois — plants which only reach a low height
  • French: maquis — plants which only reach a low height
  • Galician: sotobosque — plants which only reach a low height
  • Galician: mato — plants which only reach a low height
  • German: Unterholz — plants which only reach a low height
  • German: Unterwuchs — plants which only reach a low height
  • Ancient Greek: ῥώψ (rhṓps) — plants which only reach a low height
  • Hungarian: aljnövényzet — plants which only reach a low height
  • Indonesian: belukar — plants which only reach a low height
  • Italian: sottobosco — plants which only reach a low height
  • Japanese: 下生え (shitabae) — plants which only reach a low height
  • Latin: rāmālia — plants which only reach a low height
  • Māori: hūru — plants which only reach a low height
  • Māori: ururua — plants which only reach a low height
  • Māori: hururua — plants which only reach a low height
  • Māori: heu — plants which only reach a low height
  • Māori: heuheu — plants which only reach a low height
  • Polish: podszyt — plants which only reach a low height
  • Polish: podszycie — plants which only reach a low height
  • Portuguese: sub-bosque — plants which only reach a low height
  • Romanian: tufăriș — plants which only reach a low height
  • Romanian: tufiș — plants which only reach a low height
  • Romanian: desiș — plants which only reach a low height
  • Romanian: subarboret — plants which only reach a low height
  • Russian: подлесок (podlesok) — plants which only reach a low height
  • Russian: подлесье (podlesʹje) — plants which only reach a low height
  • Serbo-Croatian: podrast — plants which only reach a low height
  • Spanish: sotobosque — plants which only reach a low height
  • Thai: พง (pong) — plants which only reach a low height
  • Turkish: diri örtü — plants which only reach a low height
  • Welsh: prysgwydd — plants which only reach a low height
  • Welsh: isdyfiant — plants which only reach a low height
Real reading context

undergrowth in complete knowledge articles