lowering
Americanadjective
-
dark and threatening, as the sky, clouds, or weather; overcast; gloomy.
lowering skies.
-
frowning or sullen, as the face or gaze; scowling; angry.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lowering
First recorded in 1300–50, lowering is from the Middle English word louring. See lower 2, -ing 2
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.
“We expect Warsh’s hopes for shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet and lowering rates to fade as inflationary pressure persists and restricts the Fed’s room for maneuvering.”
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
Police have announced measures to ease traffic in the capital until Saturday, including only allowing lower-emission cars on roads and lowering speed limits.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
In addition to helping disguise the oil’s origin, the transfer often moves the crude from a sanctioned ship to an unsanctioned one, lowering risks for the Chinese port that receives it.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Headlines warn that agentic AI is breaking the SaaS business model, lowering software valuations and making entire categories of enterprise tools obsolete.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
They’d watched cranes lowering torpedoes into their subs.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
