Low·ly a. [Compar. Lowlier superl. Lowliest.]
1. Not high; not elevated in place; low. “Lowly lands.”
2. Low in rank or social importance.
One common right the great and lowly claims. --Pope.
3. Not lofty or sublime; humble.
These rural poems, and their lowly strain. --Dryden.
4. Having a low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free from pride.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. --Matt. xi. 29.
lowly
adj 1: low or inferior in station or quality; "a humble cottage";
"a lowly parish priest"; "a modest man of the people";
"small beginnings" [syn: humble, low, modest, small]
2: inferior in rank or status; "the junior faculty"; "a lowly
corporal"; "petty officialdom"; "a subordinate
functionary" [syn: junior-grade, inferior, lower, lower-ranking,
petty(a), secondary, subaltern, subordinate]
3: used of unskilled work (especially domestic work) [syn: humble,
menial]
4: of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense);
"baseborn wretches with dirty faces"; "of humble (or
lowly) birth" [syn: base, baseborn, humble]
[also: lowliest, lowlier]