Synonyms of lowly

lowly 1 of 2

adjective

ˈlō-lē 

1

as in low

belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank

a tycoon who struggled all his life to overcome his lowly origins

Synonyms & Similar Words

• low
• humble
• plebeian
• lower-class
• ignoble
• inferior
• proletarian
• unwashed
• poor
• low-life
• lumpen
• common
• vulgar
• prole
• lowborn
• mean
• baseborn
• middle-class
• bourgeois
• simple
• plain
• working-class
• downscale
• déclassé
• down-market

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• high
• noble
• lofty
• great
• aristocratic
• gentle
• upper-class
• genteel
• patrician
• grand
• highborn
• prominent
• upper-crust
• illustrious
• eminent
• notable
• blue-blooded
• highbred
• wellborn

2

as in meek

not having or showing any feelings of superiority, self-assertiveness, or showiness

the nuns at the convent regard themselves as lowly servants of the Lord

Synonyms & Similar Words

• meek
• humble
• modest
• unassuming
• timid
• unaffected
• naive
• unpretentious
• shy
• down-to-earth
• demure
• simple
• quiet
• passive
• deferential
• submissive
• compliant
• subdued
• resigned
• acquiescent
• unassertive
• unaggressive
• plain
• yielding
• shrinking
• reserved
• bashful
• diffident
• mousy
• retiring
• sheepish
• ingenuous
• unobtrusive
• introverted
• cowering
• cringing
• overmodest
• self-effacing
• self-deprecating
• aw-shucks
• self-deprecatory

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• superior
• arrogant
• haughty
• high-and-mighty
• pompous
• pretentious
• supercilious
• uppity
• bumptious
• imperious
• lordly
• presumptuous
• conceited
• impudent
• aggressive
• egotistic
• forward
• impertinent
• peremptory
• highfalutin
• huffy
• overweening
• uppish
• high-hat
• cheeky
• presuming
• confident
• chesty
• saucy
• brassy
• audacious
• high-handed
• cocky
• bold
• assertive
• brash
• smug
• overconfident
• dominant
• hoity-toity
• hubristic
• vain
• prideful
• egocentric
• narcissistic
• toplofty
• cocksure
• vainglorious
• egoistic
• boastful
• disdainful
• huffish
• bombastic
• fastuous
• self-assertive
• domineering
• self-asserting
• overbearing
• condescending
• swaggering
• patronizing
• dominating
• self-important
• magisterial
• showy
• self-confident
• flamboyant
• ostentatious
• stuck-up
• self-centered
• self-contented
• self-conceited
• self-complacent
• self-satisfied
• outgoing
• self-obsessed
• self-engrossed
• immodest
• self-affected
• braggy
• self-congratulatory
• uninhibited
• self-pleased
• swelled-headed
• extroverted
• unreserved
• pontificating

lowly

2 of 2

adverb

as in humbly

in a manner showing no signs of pride or self-assertion

lowly bowing before his king, he accepted his knighthood

Synonyms & Similar Words

• humbly
• meekly
• abjectly
• cap in hand
• deferentially
• sheepishly
• modestly
• submissively
• politely
• hat in hand
• meanly
• fearfully
• obsequiously
• servilely
• subserviently
• timidly
• diffidently
• shyly
• timorously
• bashfully
• mousily
• courteously
• respectfully
• civilly
• self-deprecatingly
• suppliantly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• proudly
• contemptuously
• boldly
• arrogantly
• loftily
• scornfully
• haughtily
• brazenly
• imperiously
• pompously
• pretentiously
• presumptuously
• superciliously
• pridefully
• audaciously
• brashly
• huffily
• fearlessly
• disdainfully
• swaggeringly
• recklessly
• self-importantly
• impertinently
• disrespectfully
• rashly
• rudely
• discourteously
• saucily
• uppishly
• ungraciously
• impudently
• uncivilly
• impolitely
• bitchily

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of lowly

Adjective

In one respect, John Harbaugh seems to have brought winning football back to New York New Jersey Stadium; conversely, the Cowboys’ defense is sufficiently awful to make even the lowliest opponent look like a contender. — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 18 Sep. 2026

But when the Colts needed to win at least one of their last two games to make the playoffs, Wentz struggled mightily in back-to-back losses to the lowly Las Vegas Raiders and Jaguars. — James Boyd, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026

Adverb

To win the division, the Ravens would need to win at Green Bay and Pittsburgh and have the Steelers lose to lowly Cleveland in Week 17. — CBS News, 22 Dec. 2025

Only lowly Oklahoma State, last and winless in the conference, is worse at scoring. — Kyle Newman, Denver Post, 7 Nov. 2025