Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

lowdown

/lˈoʊdˌaʊn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.63 in modern English

Syllables: low-down
IPA: /lˈoʊdˌaʊn/

14

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

inside information, the story or truth.

Uncountable

noun

A lowlife, a despicable person.

Uncountable

adj

Unfair; scoundrelly; shameful.

adj

seedy, sketchy, disreputable

adj

down low; purporting to be heterosexual while engaged in sex with men.

adv

Unfairly; dishonourably; in a deceitful or mean manner.

Example Sentences

"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"
"Lawyer Jeff, he knows the low-down / It’s mighty bad to visit home"
"lowdown tactics"
"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."

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.

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

low-down (alternative) low down (alternative) more lowdown (comparative) most lowdown (superlative)

Synonyms

scoop dirt dope straight dope poop

Rhymes With

showdown slowdown hoedown godown

Questions

How do you pronounce lowdown?: The recorded pronunciation is /lˈoʊdˌaʊn/.
What does lowdown mean?: inside information, the story or truth.
Where does lowdown come from?: 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.

How to pronounce lowdown

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “lowdown”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/lˈoʊdˌaʊn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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