1
: having few stories and not usually equipped with elevators
a low-rise apartment/office building
2
: of, relating to, or characterized by low-rise buildings
a low-rise housing development
3
: having a shorter than standard rise (see rise entry 2 sense 7)
low-rise jeans
The finishing touch of her ensemble then came in the form of "old school," low-rise brown suede … pants and coordinating brown leather boots.Claudia Miller
Jeans can also be OK … in some work environments, but not the "Saturday night jeans" that are low-rise and sexy.Paula Rath

Examples of low-rise in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
They’re made from a combination of linen and viscose to minimize wrinkling and come with a trendy low-rise waist and drawstring tie to offer you an ideal fit. Danielle Calma, Travel + Leisure, 13 July 2025 Instead, an occasionally bleak corniche winds down the coast from a state-of-the-art seaport — strategically placed 70 kilometers from the Strait of Hormuz — past a dusty, sunbaked town of old office towers, hotels, the obligatory shopping mall, and streets of low-rise shops and houses. Camilla Wright, semafor.com, 11 July 2025 True Religion’s low-rise jeans and bootcut silhouettes are combined with Bella Doña’s taste for western appliqué, Spanish slang tees, crystal embellishments and bold cutouts. Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 10 July 2025 Everything about this low-budget franchise extension is a mess, from the low-rise English city of Milton Keynes masquerading as Metropolis to its on-the-nose moralizing about world peace. Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for low-rise

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of low-rise was in 1922

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Cite this Entry

“Low-rise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/low-rise. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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