lowdown
lowdown Lexical Profile
lowdown Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The true, unadorned facts or inside information about a person or situation (informal, usually preceded by 'the').
"Before my first day at the office, a friendly colleague gave me the lowdown on how the department operates."
• adjective
Unfair, dishonorable, or contemptible (informal).
"Leaving his business partner to pay all the debts was a lowdown trick."
American Slow, earthy, and deeply emotional (especially of blues or jazz music).
"The saxophonist played a slow, lowdown blues melody that captivated the entire room."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a noun meaning 'inside information', 'lowdown' is almost always preceded by the definite article 'the' (e.g., 'get the lowdown'). As an adjective, it is often hyphenated ('low-down') when placed before a noun.
• Rhymes for lowdown
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in late 19th-century American English as a compound of 'low' and 'down', originally used as an adjective meaning degraded or mean, and later popularized in 1920s jazz and slang for the fundamental, unvarnished truth.