lowlight

noun

low·​light ˈlō-ˌlīt 

plural lowlights

1

: a particularly bad or unpleasant event, detail, or part

2

: an area of the hair made a darker color (as through the application of chemical substances)

—usually plural

And his last rule of thumb is to start with a neutral, all-over color—without it, your highlights and lowlights won't pop.

—Rachel Nussbaum

Examples of lowlight in a Sentence

That meal turned out to be one of the lowlights of our vacation.

Recent Examples on the Web

On Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen quizzed Hiller on some career lowlights, including a diarrhea story that didn’t involve cyclospora but did name-drop Sam Mendes. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 17 July 2026

That lowlight culminated a week of three defeats for Phoenix, with only the 3-point loss to Indiana (which was missing Caitlin Clark) acceptable for a team coming off a finals appearance. — Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 13 July 2026

Ahead, look back on the standout highlights and lowlights from the three-hour ceremony. — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 29 June 2026

Achieve a beachy blonde with a combination of lowlights and highlights that create a multi-dimensional blonde look. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 13 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1882, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for lowlight

• affright
• airtight
• albite
• alight
• alright
• aplite
• aright
• bainite
• birthright
• bobwhite
• bornite
• bullfight