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Slang file #014Here to stayFeelings & vibes

What does lowkey mean?

Say itLOH-kee/ˈloʊˌkiː/adverb

Kind of, a little, or secretly; people use it to share a feeling or opinion without making it sound too strong.

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Lowkey is slang for kind of, a little, or secretly. People put it before a feeling or an opinion to make it sound softer. "I lowkey love this song" means you like the song, but you are not making a big deal about it. You will see it in group chats, comments, and captions.

Say it like the two words low and key: LOH-kee. It is casual but never rude. You hear it most from younger people, especially online, and older relatives may only know the older meaning: quiet and relaxed, as in "a low-key dinner."

Word stats

How casual
Casual slang for friends and group chats, and it sounds out of place in anything formal.
OK at work
OK in a relaxed team chat, but it sounds too young for meetings, emails, and reports.
Grandma-safe
Completely clean, though Grandma may think you are describing a quiet party.
Cringe risk
Low, because it is so common, but putting it in every sentence starts to sound like you are trying too hard.
Freshness
Steady: about as many people look it up as last year, and it is still in every comment section.

Spotted in the wild

Group chat · Tuesday, 10:15 pm
  1. Jinhas anyone tried the new spicy noodles from the corner store
  2. Youyes. lowkey the best thing I’ve eaten all week
  3. Anathat’s sad and also I believe you
  4. Jinbuying 5 tomorrow

What it means here: You really like the noodles, and lowkey keeps the praise casual, like "honestly, kind of."

Comments on a photo
  1. sam.and.lia1 year 💛
  2. dani_rwait you two have been lowkey dating for a YEAR??
  3. sam.and.liawe like to keep things lowkey 😌

What it means here: Here lowkey means secretly, or without attention: nobody knew they were a couple.

Text with Mom
  1. MomDad wants a low-key birthday this year. Just dinner at home, no party.
  2. Youlowkey that sounds nicer than last year
  3. MomLast year was fine!
  4. Youmom there was a karaoke machine

What it means here: Mom uses the old adjective (quiet and simple), and you use the slang adverb (kind of, honestly).

How to use it

  • lowkey + verbI lowkey want to skip the party and sleep.
  • lowkey + adjectiveThat test was lowkey hard.
  • Lowkey, + sentenceLowkey, I think she’s right.
  • lowkey + verb (meaning secretly)They’ve been lowkey planning a surprise for her.
  • keep it lowkeyI got the job, but keep it lowkey until I tell my boss.

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offI love lowkey this song.

    Say thisI lowkey love this song.

    Put lowkey right before the word it softens, the same place you would put "kind of."

  • Sounds offI lowkeyly miss school.

    Say thisI lowkey miss school.

    The slang lowkey is already an adverb, so it never takes -ly.

  • Sounds offWe had a lowkey party: 200 people, a DJ, and fireworks.

    Say thisWe had a lowkey party: six friends, pizza, and a movie.

    Before a noun, lowkey is the old adjective, so a lowkey party is a small, quiet one.

  • Sounds offThe quarterly results were lowkey disappointing.

    Say thisThe quarterly results were somewhat disappointing.

    Lowkey is slang, so use "somewhat" or "slightly" in reports and formal emails.

lowkey or not?

Is each of these lowkey? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. You think the new café is really good, but you just say "it’s pretty nice" and shrug.

  2. You stand on a chair and tell everyone the café changed your life.

  3. Two coworkers have been dating for months, and nobody at work knows.

  4. You post forty photos of your new car with a long speech about it.

The lowkey family

  • highkeyThe opposite: openly, or very much.Lowkey’s loud twin, who tells everyone everything.
  • kindaA casual way to write "kind of": a little, somewhat.The plain version. Your teacher won’t blink.
  • nglNot gonna lie: used before an honest opinion.Often shows up right before lowkey: "ngl this is lowkey good."

Where it came from

  1. 1897Merriam-Webster’s first known use of the adjective low-key, for pictures with dark tones and little contrast [1]. The everyday meaning, quiet and not showy, comes later.
  2. 2009An early online use: an Urban Dictionary entry defines it as secretly, or slightly or kinda. Linguist Gretchen McCulloch found it, as Merriam-Webster reports [2].
  3. October 2021Merriam-Webster adds the slang adverb to its dictionary, more than a century after the adjective [2].
  4. TodayLowkey is everywhere in group chats, comment sections, and captions, usually written as one word.

The slang lowkey or the old one?

Lowkey has two lives. The old one is an adjective that describes a thing. The new one is a slang adverb that softens a feeling or tells you something is secret.

UseExampleMeaning
Old adjectivea lowkey weddingquiet, simple, not showy
Slang: kind ofI lowkey love this song.I kind of love it, but it’s no big deal.
Slang: secretlyThey’re lowkey dating.They are dating without telling people.

A simple rule: right before a noun (a lowkey party), it is usually the old meaning. Before a verb or an adjective (lowkey love, lowkey tired), or at the start of a sentence, it is the slang one.

The slang adverb is much newer. Merriam-Webster says it means "kinda" or "somewhat," and added it to its dictionary in 2021 [2].

Spelling will not help you tell them apart. Cambridge lists low-key, lowkey, and low key for the same word [3]. In slang, people usually write lowkey as one word.

Sources

  1. Low-key Definition & MeaningMerriam-Webster
  2. Words We're Watching: 'Low-key'Merriam-Webster
  3. LOW-KEY | Meaning in the Cambridge English DictionaryCambridge Dictionary

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