adj
Meaning 1
Unfair; scoundrelly; shameful.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- lowdown tactics
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
lowdown
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
CMU ARPABET: L OW1 D AW2 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
seedy, sketchy, disreputable
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
down low; purporting to be heterosexual while engaged in sex with men.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adv
Meaning 4
Unfairly; dishonourably; in a deceitful or mean manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
inside information, the story or truth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
- All the reporters hoped to be the first to get the lowdown on the celebrity's marriage plans.
- here's the lowdown
- to give somebody the lowdown
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: scoop, dirt, dope, straight dope, poop
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A lowlife, a despicable person.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Compound adjective of low + down in the sense of "humble" recorded in the 1540s, in the sense of "vulgar, far down the social scale" in 1888. Recorded as a noun in 1915 in the slang sense of secret or inside information.
Across languages
Translations
29 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Czech: podlý — unfair, shameful
- Czech: nízký — unfair, shameful
- Czech: sprostý — unfair, shameful
- Chinese Mandarin: 真相 (zhēnxiàng) — the whole truth
- Chinese Mandarin: 內幕 /内幕 (nèimù) — the whole truth
- Czech: holá pravda — the whole truth
- Czech: základní informace — the whole truth
- Danish: historie — the whole truth
- Finnish: faktat — the whole truth
- Finnish: paljastus — the whole truth
- Finnish: tieto — the whole truth
- German: Fakten — the whole truth
- German: Infos — the whole truth
- German: Informationen — the whole truth
- Hungarian: értesülés — the whole truth
- Hungarian: füles — the whole truth
- Japanese: 真相 (shinsō) — the whole truth
- Japanese: 内幕 — the whole truth
- Portuguese: revelação — the whole truth
- Russian: подного́тная (podnogótnaja) — the whole truth
- Russian: подоплёка (podopljóka) — the whole truth
- Spanish: primicia — the whole truth
- Spanish: chiva — the whole truth
- Spanish: tubazo — the whole truth
- Spanish: emprima — the whole truth
- Spanish: notición — the whole truth
- Spanish: detalles — the whole truth
- Spanish: información — the whole truth
- Turkish: içyüz — the whole truth
Real reading context