"low-functioning" meaning in English

See low-functioning in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

Forms: more low-functioning [comparative], lower-functioning [comparative], most low-functioning [superlative], lowest-functioning [superlative]
Etymology: From low + functioning. Etymology templates: {{com|en|low|functioning}} low + functioning Head templates: {{en-adj|more,+first}} low-functioning (comparative more low-functioning or lower-functioning, superlative most low-functioning or lowest-functioning)
  1. Functioning or operating at a low level.
    Sense id: en-low-functioning-en-adj-oXOpr9cO
  2. (psychology) Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, unable to function in society; greatly affected by a disability or illness.
    Sense id: en-low-functioning-en-adj-hIwqs67n Categories (other): Psychology Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
  3. (psychology) Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively low cognitive function.
    Sense id: en-low-functioning-en-adj-HRTviWY0 Categories (other): Psychology, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 32 59 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 8 13 78 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 6 10 85 Topics: human-sciences, psychology, sciences
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Coordinate_terms: high-functioning

Inflected forms

{
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "high-functioning"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "low",
        "3": "functioning"
      },
      "expansion": "low + functioning",
      "name": "com"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From low + functioning.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more low-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lower-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most low-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lowest-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "more,+first"
      },
      "expansion": "low-functioning (comparative more low-functioning or lower-functioning, superlative most low-functioning or lowest-functioning)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Functioning or operating at a low level."
      ],
      "id": "en-low-functioning-en-adj-oXOpr9cO"
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Psychology",
          "orig": "en:Psychology",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, unable to function in society; greatly affected by a disability or illness."
      ],
      "id": "en-low-functioning-en-adj-hIwqs67n",
      "links": [
        [
          "psychology",
          "psychology"
        ],
        [
          "developmental",
          "developmental disability"
        ],
        [
          "intellectual disability",
          "intellectual disability"
        ],
        [
          "mental illness",
          "mental illness"
        ],
        [
          "unable",
          "unable"
        ],
        [
          "function",
          "function"
        ],
        [
          "society",
          "society"
        ],
        [
          "affected",
          "affected"
        ],
        [
          "disability",
          "disability"
        ],
        [
          "illness",
          "illness"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(psychology) Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, unable to function in society; greatly affected by a disability or illness."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "psychology",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Psychology",
          "orig": "en:Psychology",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 32 59",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 13 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 10 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively low cognitive function."
      ],
      "id": "en-low-functioning-en-adj-HRTviWY0",
      "links": [
        [
          "psychology",
          "psychology"
        ],
        [
          "autism",
          "autism"
        ],
        [
          "exhibit",
          "exhibit"
        ],
        [
          "relatively",
          "relatively"
        ],
        [
          "low",
          "low"
        ],
        [
          "cognitive",
          "cognitive"
        ],
        [
          "function",
          "function"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(psychology) Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively low cognitive function."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "psychology",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low-functioning"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English compound terms",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "word": "high-functioning"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "low",
        "3": "functioning"
      },
      "expansion": "low + functioning",
      "name": "com"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From low + functioning.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more low-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lower-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most low-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "lowest-functioning",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "more,+first"
      },
      "expansion": "low-functioning (comparative more low-functioning or lower-functioning, superlative most low-functioning or lowest-functioning)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "Functioning or operating at a low level."
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Psychology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, unable to function in society; greatly affected by a disability or illness."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "psychology",
          "psychology"
        ],
        [
          "developmental",
          "developmental disability"
        ],
        [
          "intellectual disability",
          "intellectual disability"
        ],
        [
          "mental illness",
          "mental illness"
        ],
        [
          "unable",
          "unable"
        ],
        [
          "function",
          "function"
        ],
        [
          "society",
          "society"
        ],
        [
          "affected",
          "affected"
        ],
        [
          "disability",
          "disability"
        ],
        [
          "illness",
          "illness"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(psychology) Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, unable to function in society; greatly affected by a disability or illness."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "psychology",
        "sciences"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Psychology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively low cognitive function."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "psychology",
          "psychology"
        ],
        [
          "autism",
          "autism"
        ],
        [
          "exhibit",
          "exhibit"
        ],
        [
          "relatively",
          "relatively"
        ],
        [
          "low",
          "low"
        ],
        [
          "cognitive",
          "cognitive"
        ],
        [
          "function",
          "function"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(psychology) Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively low cognitive function."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "human-sciences",
        "psychology",
        "sciences"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "low-functioning"
}

Download raw JSONL data for low-functioning meaning in English (2.2kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-10-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-10-21 using wiktextract (bd88cf0 and 0a198a9). 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.