"low key" meaning in English

See low key in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Forms: more low key [comparative], most low key [superlative]
Head templates: {{en-adv}} low key (comparative more low key, superlative most low key)
  1. (informal) Alternative spelling of low-key Tags: alt-of, alternative, informal Alternative form of: low-key
    Sense id: en-low_key-en-adv-Mj2r1oqk Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 50 14 36 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 59 12 30 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 59 9 32

Noun

Head templates: {{en-noun|?}} low key
  1. A restrained or subdued situation.
    Sense id: en-low_key-en-noun-QgxgotHT
  2. (photography) A dark area of a photograph with little contrast. Categories (topical): Photography
    Sense id: en-low_key-en-noun-OhBr9JKc Topics: arts, hobbies, lifestyle, photography
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: low-key, low-keyed
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "low-key"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "low-keyed"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "low key",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A restrained or subdued situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-low_key-en-noun-QgxgotHT",
      "links": [
        [
          "restrain",
          "restrain"
        ],
        [
          "subdue",
          "subdue"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Photography",
          "orig": "en:Photography",
          "parents": [
            "Art",
            "Human activity",
            "Media",
            "Culture",
            "Human behaviour",
            "Communication",
            "Society",
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A dark area of a photograph with little contrast."
      ],
      "id": "en-low_key-en-noun-OhBr9JKc",
      "links": [
        [
          "photography",
          "photography"
        ],
        [
          "photograph",
          "photograph"
        ],
        [
          "contrast",
          "contrast"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(photography) A dark area of a photograph with little contrast."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "photography"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low key"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more low key",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most low key",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "low key (comparative more low key, superlative most low key)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "low-key"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "50 14 36",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 12 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "59 9 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 February 5, Maria Yagoda, “Why Do So Many Adult Men Keep Their Mattresses On The Floor?”, in Vice:",
          "text": "“When I started sleeping on the floor, I thought, ‘Whatever, it’s a mattress, I’ll be fine, I did it when I was a teen,’ but eventually, it actually became a real problem that was low key fucking my life,” Smith told me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club:",
          "text": "In terms of the overall story of the finale, it’s smart how much emphasis the episode puts on the juice in the portal gun, as that’s going to be a major factor in “Rickmurai Jack;” the portal gun is low key the most important invention in Rick’s arsenal, and the episode does a good job of underlining that without belaboring the point.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative spelling of low-key"
      ],
      "id": "en-low_key-en-adv-Mj2r1oqk",
      "links": [
        [
          "low-key",
          "low-key#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Alternative spelling of low-key"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low key"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "low-key"
    },
    {
      "word": "low-keyed"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "?"
      },
      "expansion": "low key",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A restrained or subdued situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "restrain",
          "restrain"
        ],
        [
          "subdue",
          "subdue"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Photography"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A dark area of a photograph with little contrast."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "photography",
          "photography"
        ],
        [
          "photograph",
          "photograph"
        ],
        [
          "contrast",
          "contrast"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(photography) A dark area of a photograph with little contrast."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "arts",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "photography"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low key"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with unknown or uncertain plurals",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more low key",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most low key",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "low key (comparative more low key, superlative most low key)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "low-key"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2019 February 5, Maria Yagoda, “Why Do So Many Adult Men Keep Their Mattresses On The Floor?”, in Vice:",
          "text": "“When I started sleeping on the floor, I thought, ‘Whatever, it’s a mattress, I’ll be fine, I did it when I was a teen,’ but eventually, it actually became a real problem that was low key fucking my life,” Smith told me.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 September 6, Zack Handlen, “Rick And Morty ends its fifth season looking for an escape hatch”, in AV Club:",
          "text": "In terms of the overall story of the finale, it’s smart how much emphasis the episode puts on the juice in the portal gun, as that’s going to be a major factor in “Rickmurai Jack;” the portal gun is low key the most important invention in Rick’s arsenal, and the episode does a good job of underlining that without belaboring the point.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative spelling of low-key"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "low-key",
          "low-key#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Alternative spelling of low-key"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low key"
}

Download raw JSONL data for low key meaning in English (2.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-31 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (bcd5c38 and 9dbd323). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.