English Explanatory Dictionary

low

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty.
  2. Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a lesser elevation, closer to sea level (especially near the sea), than other regions.
  3. Below the batter's knees.
  4. Of less than normal height or upward extent or growth, or of greater than normal depth or recession; below the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
  5. Low-cut.
  6. Not high in status, esteem, or rank, dignity, or quality. (Compare vulgar.)
  7. Humble, meek, not haughty.
  8. Disparaging; assigning little value or excellence.
  9. Being a nadir, a bottom.
  10. Depressed in mood, dejected, sad.
  11. Lacking health or vitality, strength or vivacity; feeble; weak.
  12. Having few hit points remaining; damaged.
noun
  1. A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc).
  2. The minimum atmospheric temperature recorded at a particular location, especially during one 24-hour period.
  3. A period of depression; a depressed mood or situation.
  4. An area of low pressure; a depression.
  5. The lowest-speed gearing of a power-transmission system, especially of an automotive vehicle.
  6. The lowest trump, usually the deuce; the lowest trump dealt or drawn.
  7. A cheap, cost-efficient, or advantageous price.
adv
  1. Close to the ground.
  2. Of a pitch, at a lower frequency.
  3. With a low voice or sound; not loudly; gently.
  4. Under the usual price; at a moderate price; cheaply.
  5. In a low mean condition; humbly; meanly.
  6. In a time approaching our own.
  7. In a path near the equator, so that the declination is small, or near the horizon, so that the altitude is small; said of the heavenly bodies with reference to the diurnal revolution.
verb
  1. To lower; to make low.
verb
  1. simple past of laugh.
verb
  1. To moo.
noun
  1. A flame; fire; blaze.
verb
  1. To burn; to blaze.
noun
  1. Barrow, mound, tumulus.
  2. A hill.
verb
  1. Alternative form of 'low.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. A township municipality in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality, Outaouais, Quebec, Canada, named after Charles Adamson Low.
  3. A ghost town in Tooele County, Utah, United States.
name
  1. The station code of Lo Wu in Hong Kong.
noun
  1. Acronym of launch on warning.

Pronunciation

/ˈləʊ/ /ˈlaː/ /ˈloʊ/ en-us-low.ogg [ˈloː] /ləʊ/ /loʊ/ /laʊ/

Word forms

low lower lowest lows lowing lowed lowe lawe

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *légʰyeti Proto-Germanic *ligjaną Proto-Germanic *lēgaz Old Norse lágrbor. Middle English lāh English low From Middle English lowe, lohe, lāh, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“lying, flat, situated near the ground, low”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Saterland Frisian läich (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), obsolete German läg (“low”), German Low German leeg, leeg' (“low”), Danish lav (“low”), Faroese, Icelandic lágur (“low”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Swedish låg (“low”). More at lie.

Synonyms

Synonyms: immoral abject scummy scurvy nether underslung short small low scrimp shortsome stubbed stubby stumpy vertically challenged bad mid sad sorry ass base below par bottom-shelf BTEC bum cheap cheap and nasty cheapshit cheesy chintzy coffee-and crap crappo crappy craptastic crapperific craptabulous craptacular cruddy crummy dogwater drecky flimsy fourth-rate gash garbage god-awful inferior lousy low-grade low-quality low-rent made in China naughty one-star poor poor man's pound-shop punk rinky-dink

Antonyms

high tall elevated eminent exalted lofty

Related words

below

Derived words

alow at a low ebb Bowland Forest Low bring low come low could eat the arse out of a low flying duck could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck could eat the crutch from a low flying duck cutoff low down-low down low extremely low frequency fly low friends in low places hang low high and low High and Low Bishopside highlow high-low high-low split Holme Low I have low blood pressure infralow keep a low profile Kilburn High and Low lilly-low low-alcohol low-altitude low and behold low and slow Low Angerton low back low-background low-background lead low-background steel low back merger lowball low-beam lowbell low-bell Low Bentham lowbie low block low blow low-boiling low bono lowboy low breathing low bridge low-brow lowbrow low-budget lowbush low C low-cal low-caloric low-calorie low camp low-carb low-carber

Translations

Afrikaans: laag Albanian: i ulët Albanian: nën Southern Altai: јабыс Arabic: مُنْخَفِض Arabic: واطي Armenian: ցածր Armenian: ցածրահասակ Asturian: baxu Azerbaijani: alçaq Azerbaijani: aşağı Bashkir: түбән Bashkir: тәпәш Belarusian: ні́зкі Bengali: নিম্ন Bengali: নিচু Breton: izel Bulgarian: ни́сък Bulgarian: слаб Burmese: နိမ့်သေ Burmese: နိမ့် Catalan: baix Cebuano: ubos Chamicuro: c̈hijtawa Chechen: лоха Chinese Cantonese: 低 Chinese: ди Chinese Mandarin: 低 Chinese Mandarin: 矮 Czech: nízký Danish: lav Dutch: laag Dutch: lage Esperanto: malalta Estonian: madal Evenki: нэптэкун Extremaduran: bahu Fala: baxiu Faroese: lágur Finnish: matala Finnish: alhainen Finnish: ala-arvoinen Finnish: heikko French: bas French: faible French: petit French: abject Galician: baixo Georgian: დაბალი German: niedrig German: schwach German: gemein German: niederträchtig Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌽𐍃 Greek: χαμηλός Greek: κοντός Greek: ποταπός Ancient Greek: ταπεινός Ancient Greek: χθαμαλός Hebrew: נָמוּךְ Hindi: नीचा Hungarian: alacsony Czech: nejnižší úroveň Czech: minimum Esperanto: malaltejo Finnish: pohja Greek: χαμηλό Greek: ναδίρ Swedish: lågvattenmärke
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