Lowdown

adj, adv, noun

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Unfair; scoundrelly; shameful.

    "lowdown tactics"

  2. 2
    seedy, sketchy, disreputable

    "So there I was, in the front row of course (it was my reportorial duty), with a bunch of gay men and straight women. And we're all involved in a lowdown — but eminently "Safe" — celebration of the erotic possibilities of the male body."

  3. 3
    down low; purporting to be heterosexual while engaged in sex with men.
Adverb
  1. 1
    Unfairly; dishonourably; in a deceitful or mean manner.

    "“I say, that’s playing it a bit low down,” I protested."

Noun
  1. 1
    inside information, the story or truth. uncountable

    "All the reporters hoped to be the first to get the lowdown on the celebrity's marriage plans."

  2. 2
    A lowlife, a despicable person. uncountable

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

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.

Next best steps

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: lowdown