Definition of lowly in US English:

lowly

adjectivelowlier, lowliest

1Low in status or importance; humble.
‘she was too good for her lowly position’
- ‘Certainly they rarely showed any sign of looking like champions after a good opening spell, as Kirkcaldy showed a fighting spirit which belied their lowly status.’
- ‘For a lowly freshman she sure had a lot of excess attitude.’
- ‘It was easy for Gabrielle to wish for a Cinderella life, for she was a lowly servant living a life of labor, obedience, and pain.’
- ‘From the lowly clerk, to the highly placed minister, everyone is corrupt.’
- ‘The lowly chow of the rural poor has gone highbrow.’
- ‘And like any self-respecting vanguard, this one started under very lowly circumstances.’
- ‘A tan face signifies the status of a lowly peasant who has worked in the fields all her life.’
- ‘Brelghtmet will be still be disappointed with their lowly position as a number of their defeats have been close and could have gone either way.’
- ‘Johnny, too, believes the country community has been given a lowly status by politicians.’
- ‘He came to live among us, not in ‘Buckingham Palace with royalty’ but as a carpenter in a humble home in the lowly village of Nazareth.’
- ‘Despite its lowly status, mucus plays a valuable role in the body.’
- ‘In the last of the quarter-finals Castleford belied their lowly position to defeat Scarborough.’
- ‘Crooks refused to put too much emphasis on the club's lowly league position after all the problems they have encountered this season.’
- ‘Ah well, at least I can get a concession ticket now, thanks to my lowly student status.’
- ‘Resigned to his status as a lowly hospital attendant at the Whitestone Sanitarium, Jerome dreams of the day he can once again ply the Hippocratic oath.’
- ‘Despite their relatively lowly beginnings, however, all have even greater power than their predecessors.’
- ‘I mean after all wasn't Jesus a humble lowly carpenter!’
- ‘He had status, ultimate power and the chance to win the glory denied him on land by his lowly position in the rigid social hierarchy of 18th - century Britain.’
- ‘Artists might live in a patron's household, as lowly servant or close companion.’
- ‘We're lowly freshman, at the hands of the seniors.’
humble, low, low-born, low-bred, low-ranking, plebeian, proletarian, peasant, poor
View synonyms
1. 1.1 (of an organism) primitive or simple.
  ‘Darwin's last major publication was a treatise on the lowly earthworm that exemplified the meticulous scientific method that brought him to fame.’
  ‘Yet even this lowly creature, which can circumvent sex and simply bud like a clump of daylilies, can mouth a Wnt sentence - and use it to guide development.’
  ‘It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.’
  ‘Even the lowliest creatures ensure they have a decent home before they start breeding.’

adverb

To a low degree; in a low manner.
‘lowly paid workers’
- ‘If he thought so lowly of me, what did everyone else think?’
- ‘He growled lowly, but then nodded toward her and gestured briskly toward the stage.’
- ‘Adelaide began to walk slowly down the cobblestone pavement, head hanging lowly, a shadow of her bright, vivacious, jovial self.’
- ‘He looked around nervously and grabbed her arm, hissing lowly.’
- ‘He heard his name being called and bowed lowly for everyone to see, but he kept his eyes on her.’
- ‘Wouldn't want you to see it before it's perfected, you might think lowly of my skills.’
- ‘He sighed lowly and then emerged from his hiding space.’
- ‘‘I figured for five years of absence, I could get a pretty dress and a nice party,’ she said lowly with a half smile.’
- ‘In lowly expressed genes, gene expression noise may cause a gene's expression level to dip below levels necessary for proper biological functions.’
- ‘The UK remains a relatively lowly taxed country compared with its European partners.’
- ‘He whispered so lowly it's amazing I even heard him.’
- ‘‘That discussion is not for tonight,’ he said lowly and continued eating.’
- ‘He finally turned around and said in measured tones lowly, ‘A relationship is built on trust.’’
- ‘Brandon whistled lowly, and I rolled my blue eyes.’
- ‘He did well to desist: it is impossible to imagine him as the crushed, shuffling Willy Loman, a tragic hero designed for a lowly democratic society.’