lowlife
Americannoun
plural
lowlifesnoun
Etymology
Origin of lowlife
Explanation
A lowlife is a no-good bum or a criminal, someone who deserves contempt. A car thief and a cruel bully could both be described as lowlifes. Calling someone a lowlife is an insult — a lowlife has a terrible, mean or criminal reputation. You should probably save this word for the worst of the worst, like animal abusers and scam artists who steal money from elderly people. Lowlife started out as an adjective meaning "disreputable," and began to also mean "no-good person" in the early part of the 20th century.
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.
Frank is a lowlife antihero for the ages.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
“We have a lowlife out here,” Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said in a video asking the public for its help.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2022
“My son Jonathan was a thousand times more of a man than this lowlife could ever even dream of being,” Justine Amerault said.
From Washington Times • May 27, 2022
"I want every bounty hunter and lowlife to squeeze him," she says of Obi-Wan in one shot.
From Salon • May 5, 2022
“My stunning resemblance to that lowlife O’Doyle is but one result of Petey’s curse, and perhaps the least of them. You shall see.”
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
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.
