Meanings
plural lower-downs
- Someone with lesser superiority or authority in an organization.
Humans distinguish between we-groups and they-groups, such as relatives versus strangers and higher-ups versus lower-downs, thereby creating crucial preconditions for favouring their own groups while discriminating against others.
2020, Evert Van de Vliert, “The global ecology of differentiation between us and them”, in Nature Human Behavior, volume 4, number 3, pages 270-278Synonyms: subordinate · Antonyms: higher-up, superior
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSomeone with lesser superiority or authority in an organization.
Origin
From lower + down. Modeled after higher-up.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lower-down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lower-down
“lower-down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lower-down. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lower-down,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lower-down.
Source: lower-down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.