lowlife

IPA/ˈləʊ.laɪf/
IPA/ˈloʊ.laɪf/

lowlife — noun

  • lowlifesingular
  • lowlifesplural

1. someone who makes a living through crime or dishonest behaviour, and who is rega

1.nounB2
Definition

someone who makes a living through crime or dishonest behaviour, and who is regarded by others as worthless and immoral

Example

Kwame warned his daughter that the man at the corner store was a known lowlife.

collocation: a known lowlife

The police finally arrested the lowlife who had been stealing from elderly neighbours for months.

Common collocations
  • a known lowlife
  • a petty lowlife
  • a dangerous lowlife
Synonyms
  • criminal

    more neutral and legal; lowlife carries heavier moral disgust

  • crook

    focuses on dishonesty and scams; lowlife suggests a whole pattern of worthless behaviour

  • scoundrel

    old-fashioned and almost playful; lowlife is harsher and more current

  • villain

    often used for fictional characters; lowlife describes a real person in everyday terms

Grammar Patterns

a lowlife

the lowlife (referring to a specific person)

Usage Note

Always derogatory — the word expresses strong moral condemnation of someone's entire way of living, not just one bad act. Frequently used with 'a' as in 'a lowlife' or 'the lowlife' when the referent is already known.

Common Mistakes

He lost his job, so now he is a lowlife.
He was convicted of fraud, and locals called him a lowlife.
being unemployed does not make someone a lowlife; the word always implies dishonest or criminal behaviour, not poverty.

2. the people in a community who live by crime or dishonest behaviour, viewed as a

2.nounC1
Definition

the people in a community who live by crime or dishonest behaviour, viewed as a group rather than as individuals

Example

The new mayor promised to drive the lowlife out of the city centre for good.

collocation: drive the lowlife out

Old-timers said the lowlife had taken over the docks years ago.

Common collocations
  • the local lowlife
  • the city's lowlife
  • the lowlife element
Synonyms
  • underworld

    refers specifically to organised crime networks; lowlife is broader, covering petty offenders too

  • criminal element

    more formal, used in police or political speech; lowlife is everyday street language

  • riffraff

    focuses on low social standing rather than criminality; lowlife always implies dishonest activity

Grammar Patterns

the lowlife

local lowlife

the city's lowlife

Usage Note

Uncountable collective noun that names a whole category of people, not individuals. Always appears with 'the'. Distinguish from sense 1 (DISHONEST PERSON): 'a lowlife' (or 'lowlifes' in plural) refers to one or more individuals; 'the lowlife' treats the group as a mass.

Common Mistakes

He hangs around with a lowlife.' (intending the collective group)
He hangs around with the lowlife around the docks.
sense 2 is uncountable; use 'the lowlife' for the group as a whole.
The lowlife in this town are getting worse.
The lowlife in this town is getting worse.
when used as a collective mass noun, treat it as singular.

Word family

  • low-life
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe someone who breaks the law or moral codes, yet each carries a very different tone. Criminal is the most neutral and legal — it states a fact about what someone has done, without conveying the speaker's personal disgust. Crook is informal and focuses on dishonesty: a crook cheats people out of money through scams or fraud. Scoundrel sounds old-fashioned and almost theatrical — you might call a charming liar a scoundrel with a half-smile, but you would never use lowlife that way. Thug emphasises physical violence and brutality, whereas a lowlife may never raise a fist but still earns contempt through a life of petty crime, sponging, and overall worthlessness. Choose lowlife when you want to express raw, personal disgust at someone's entire way of living — not just one bad act. For example: 'The man who sold fake medicine to sick children is a lowlife.'

criminal ↗crook ↗scoundrelthug ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • the lowlife
  • lowlife scum

Prepositions

  • lowlife from (a place)
  • lowlife in (a neighbourhood)

Etymology

English

Formed by combining 'low' and 'life', the word first appeared in American English around the early 1900s. It originally described someone whose way of living was considered degraded — literally a person leading a 'low' form of life. By the mid-20th century it had taken on strong criminal associations and became a common term of contempt in everyday speech.