Principal
Principal adjective - Coming before all others in importance.
Underlying and principal are semantically related In some cases you can use "Underlying" instead an adjective "Principal".
Underlying
Underlying adjective - Of or relating to the simplest facts or theories of a subject.
Principal and underlying are semantically related in fundamental topic. Sometimes you can use "Principal" instead an adjective "Underlying".
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- prime and principal
- prime and underlying
- first and principal
- first and underlying
- core and principal
- core and underlying
- capital and principal
- capital and underlying
- critical and principal
- critical and underlying
- main and principal
- main and underlying
- important and principal
- important and underlying
Both words in one sentence
- Unusually for a western RPG, Planescape: Torment gave leitmotivs to all the principal characters, including The Nameless One, all NPCs and all of the principal villains; all being variants on the same underlying theme used for every piece of music on the soundtrack.
Source: Leitmotif / Video Games
Cite this Source
Underlying and Principal. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/principal/underlying
Principal & Underlying. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/principal/underlying>.
Underlying or Principal. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/principal/underlying.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "principal" and "underlying" have occurred on timeline