under the radar

U

under the radar (idiom)
/ˌʌndər ðə ˈreɪdɑːr/

Meanings

• Going unnoticed, avoiding unnecessary attention.
• Avoid attracting attention or notice.
• Act discreetly or inconspicuously.
• Go unnoticed by authority or scrutiny.
• Remain hidden or undetected.

Synonyms: keep a low profile; evade notice; stay unnoticed; go undetected; remain hidden.

Example Sentences

1. She managed to stay under the radar during the investigation.
2. The project remained under the radar until the official announcement.
3. He tried to stay under the radar in class to avoid getting called on.
4. The error slipped under the radar during the final review.
5. She wanted to fly under the radar until her artwork was ready for exhibition.
6. They prefer to keep under the radar while preparing their legal case.
7. Many independent musicians go under the radar despite their talent.

Origin and History

Under the radar is a modern idiom meaning to proceed without attracting notice. It draws on aviation and air-defense vocabulary, where aircraft literally avoid detection by radar. Figurative use emerges in late-20th-century American journalism and sports writing.

Literal Background

Early radar systems in WWII and after had blind spots at very low altitudes; pilots exploited this by flying low (a tactic also called “nap-of-the-earth”) to stay beneath, or masked by, terrain—i.e., effectively “under the radar.” Museums and technical histories note both the limitation and the counter-measures (e.g., Britain’s Chain Home Low, 1939).

Emergence in Print (Figurative)

Writers began repurposing radar imagery in U.S. newspapers in the late 1960s–70s. Early figurative comparisons include “off the radar beam” (1969) and “snuck under the radar screen” (1971), especially in sports and political commentary. By 1979, the exact phrase under the radar appears squarely as a metaphor in a syndicated humor/politics column.

Competing Theories and Beliefs

• Military-to-media pipeline: The dominant view is that routine military talk about low-level flight fed into civilian discourse, where headline-friendly “under the radar” fit emerging media styles of the 1970s. (This aligns with the dated newspaper trail.)
• WWII immediate carryover: Some popular summaries claim a post-WWII idiomatic jump, but surviving print evidence points to the metaphor crystallizing later (late 1960s–1970s), not the 1940s–50s.

Country of Origin

All earliest figurative attestations located to date are from U.S. newspapers; the idiom is therefore best assigned an American origin.

Earliest Printed Record (Figurative, Exact Form)

• “under the radar” (exact phrase): July 6, 1979, The Chapel Hill Newspaper (syndicated “Mark Russell Comments” column): “…fly in there early Sunday morning—under the radar—before anyone is up.” (Humorous political context.)
• Precursor figurative uses (closely related forms):
  • “snuck under the radar screen” — Oct 30, 1971, The Commercial Appeal (sports).
  • “off the radar screen” — Apr 25, 1972, political commentary.
  • “off the radar beam” — Aug 10, 1969, advice column metaphor.

(These citations are drawn from a documented chronology of early uses.)

Diffusion and Variants

From the 1980s onward, the idiom spread rapidly in U.S. media and then internationally, generating common variants: fly under the radar, keep/stay under the radar, and antonymic extensions like on the radar / off the radar / below the radar / above the radar recorded in contemporary usage.

In summary, the idiom under the radar originated in the United States, metaphorically extending a well-known aviation tactic (low-level flight to avoid detection). The earliest figurative print evidence for the exact wording clusters in 1979, with closely related figurative “radar-screen/beam” phrasing already active by 1969–71. The military concept is WWII-era; the idiom’s metaphorical crystallization is late-1960s–1970s American media.

Variants

• off the radar
• below the radar
• above the radar

Secret, Technology

Last update: October 23, 2025 4:04 AM