subcurrent

[ suhb-kur-uhnt, -kuhr- ]

noun

1. a not clearly revealed or formulated direction of thought, intention, action, etc., underlying what is manifested:

   His words, though ostensibly friendly, betrayed a subcurrent of hostility.

Word History and Origins

Origin of subcurrent¹

First recorded in 1900–05; sub- + current

Example Sentences

A reliable subcurrent in American students’ conversions away from the ardent Zionism of their youth is firsthand confrontation with reality in the West Bank.

From New York Times

One subcurrent at Sturgis, as I would soon discover, is rating who is and is not a real biker: trailers, renters, three-wheeling “trikers,” members of outlaw gangs, women.

From New York Times

One oddity that can’t be ignored in this “Sopranos” resurgence is that, somewhat atypically for a TV fandom, there is an openly left-wing subcurrent within it — less “I feel so seen by this” lefty than “intricate knowledge of different factions within the Philadelphia D.S.A.” lefty.

From New York Times

But the pair’s personae, which place them as outsiders among insiders and as at once hipsters and squares, are also quintessentially New York Jewish, and Koenig’s consciousness of that status is a subcurrent on Father of the Bride.

From Slate

Griffith’s death brought a roiling racial subcurrent to the surface: he was fatally struck by a car as he fled onto a highway to escape a mob of whites who were chasing him.

From The New Yorker