Synonyms of lie low

lie low

phrase

as in hide

to remain out of sight

The thief decided to lie low after a string of crimes.

Synonyms & Similar Words

• hide
• lurk
• lie
• sit tight
• hole up
• repose
• sneak
• skulk
• evade
• avoid
• elude
• slink

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• appear
• come out
• show up
• materialize
• turn up

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lie low

Since his arrest, Mountbatten-Windsor has been lying low on the Sandringham Estate. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 5 Oct. 2026

Ferguson has been lying low since scandal erupted regarding the former Duchess of York and her ex-husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s association with Jeffrey Epstein. — Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 9 Aug. 2026

While still on the scene — every on-the-run criminal’s favorite place to lie low, a Kohl’s parking lot — the cops explained that the license plates on Feder’s Range Rover had been reported stolen by a dealership in Los Angeles. — Frank Landymore, Futurism, 9 July 2026

The suit, covered by major news media this week, was their latest salvo after months of lying low. — Jay Weaver, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026

Video

Lay vs. Lie

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Ask the Editor. I'm Emily Brewster, an associate editor at Merriam-Webster.
 
Sometimes we tell you that certain grammar rules are little more than the Latin-inspired whims of long dead grammarians. But not so with the verbs lay and lie. This pair is a doozy that's been tripping up English speakers for 700 years.
 
Lay's most common meaning is, to place something or someone down in a flat position. Lie's corresponding meaning is, to be in a flat position on a surface.
 
Lay is transitive. It requires that the verb have an object. There has to be a thing or a person being placed.
- Lay it down.
 
Lie, on the other hand, is intransitive. It's for something or someone moving on their own. Or something or someone that's already in position.
- You can lie down there.
- You can lie there all day.
 
That's tricky enough, but it gets worse when we start using the words beyond the now.
 
Here's lay in context in tenses that show its principal forms.
- I was told to lay the book down.
- I laid it down as I have laid other books down.
- I am laying more books down now.
 
And here's lie.
- I was told to lie down.
- I lay down.
- I have lain here since.
- I'm still lying here.
 
Did you catch that?
 
For lay, we have lay, laid, have laid, laying.
For lie, we have lie, lay, have lain, lying.
 
And then there's the unrelated verb meaning to tell an untruth.
That lie goes, lie, lied, have lied, lying.
 
What fascinates me about all this is that the language has continued to carry a torch for the distinction for 700 years. Enough writers and editors get these right generation after generation, that there continues to be a right and a wrong. It's not because dead grammarians said so, but because people like you get it right, often enough anyway, that it's still how the land lays.
 
I mean lies.
 
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