underlying

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under|ly|ing /'ʌndərl'aɪɪŋ/
1 [ADJ] ADJ n
The underlying features of an object, event, or situation are not obvious, and it may be difficult to discover or reveal them.
To stop a problem you have to understand its underlying causes...
I think that the underlying problem is education, unemployment and bad housing.
2 [ADJ] ADJ n
You describe something as underlying when it is below the surface of something else.
...hills with the hard underlying rock poking through the turf...
3
see also underlie

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