low-key
Americanadjective
-
of reduced intensity; restrained; understated.
Judicial elections used to be low-key affairs, attracting little campaign spending.
-
(of a photograph) having chiefly dark tones, usually with little tonal contrast (distinguished from high-key).
adverb
verb (used with object)
adjective
-
having a low intensity or tone
-
restrained, subdued, or understated
-
(of a photograph, painting, etc) having a predominance of dark grey tones or dark colours with few highlights Compare high-key
Usage
What else does low-key mean? Low-key can variously mean "quiet," "restrained," "moderate," or "easygoing." It can also behave as an adverb meaning "of low or moderate intensity." Like doing something, but in a "chill" way. For instance: We're having a party at my place but keeping it low-key so the neighbors don't complain.
Etymology
Origin of low-key
First recorded in 1890–95
Explanation
Something low-key is quiet or understated. A low-key wedding might be held in a friend's backyard, with a potluck reception — it's informal, small, and subdued. A person who's low-key is modest and soft spoken, and a low-key restaurant is comfortable and unpretentious. You might prefer your family's low-key way of celebrating birthdays (a cake and a few gifts) to the way your best friend's family does it (hiring caterers, clowns, magicians, and a band). Low-key can also mean "muted in color," like the low-key tones in your favorite painting.
Vocabulary lists containing low-key
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mr. Turturro, 69 years old, and Mr. Buscemi, 68, both native New Yorkers, are captivating in a low-key way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026
It’s a very Spader-y performance, arch, ironic, low-key, recalling his scenes with William Shatner in “Boston Legal.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
Reports have painted a picture of a decidedly low-key existence for the actor on the island, with Carrey spending his time reading, writing, walking, painting, and sketching.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
They expected McLaren to be the team to beat at this track, but the world champions had a low-key first session, with Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris down in 11th and 12th places.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
There were a few low-key rides, and a game in which players threw tennis balls at papier-mâché likenesses of Idi Amin and Richard Nixon.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
The ensemble, Saturday Review music critic Irving Kolodin wrote at the time, began to make “a quiet noise in jazz circles, attracting attention not by flamboyance and flash but by a low-keyed tonal production.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 16, 2023
Dershowitz said Cipollone “brings great judgment and lawyerly skills to the defense of President Trump. He’s very calibrated, very low-keyed and has excellent judgment. It’s exactly what’s needed.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 14, 2020
Nevertheless, Harriott’s tone was more low-keyed than the one he’d adopted before the Booker T. game.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 1, 2017
Or maybe it will be Pharrell Williams, who low-keyed his way to scoring a much-coveted singer Monday, a vocalist Levine called “the greatest singer in the show’s history and the most beautiful.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2015
This last was spoken in a low-keyed monotone.
From The Faith Doctor A Story of New York by Edward Eggleston
"We are low-keying it," Trump told news site Axios by phone Sunday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
If the latter is true, then Mr. Trump’s Sunday remark that “we are low-keying it” may be more sensible than his usual military bluster.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
“We are low-keying it with Iran,” he told a reporter with Axios in a phone call on Sunday, meaning that he’s just waiting for Iran to collapse.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
For his part, US President Donald Trump said in an interview: "We are low-keying it."
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
But is this John holding his cards close to the vest or is Glover merely low-keying his way through this performance, as he's done in other shows?
From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2024
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
