From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishundercurrentun‧der‧cur‧rent /ˈʌndəˌkʌrənt $ -dərˌkɜːr-/ noun [countable] 1 FEEL HAPPY/FRIGHTENED/BORED ETCa feeling, especially of anger or dissatisfaction, that people do not express openlyundercurrent of He sensed an undercurrent of resentment among the crowd.2 HEa hidden and often dangerous current of water that flows under the surface of the sea or a river
Examples from the Corpus
undercurrent• But with every initiative, they encountered an undercurrent of resistance.• Yet the defence of the welfare state in the face of the new immigration has revealed an undercurrent of racism.• But the flipside of utopia, dystopia, has also been a fertile undercurrent of modernity.• There was a political undercurrent as well, though this was less explicit.• It would be foolish to believe that any group of people can interact without a political undercurrent.• There are powerful undercurrents in the 1988 Education Act which pull in this direction.undercurrent of• There's a strong undercurrent of racism in this town. 