Word.ws English Dictionary

low-functioning

low-functioning adjective: functioning or operating at a low level.

Adjective

low-functioning (comparative more low-functioning or lower-functioning, superlative most low-functioning or lowest-functioning)

  1. Functioning or operating at a low level.
  2. Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, unable to function in society; greatly affected by a disability or illness.
  3. Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively low cognitive function.

Forms of low-functioning

comparativemore low-functioning
comparativelower-functioning
superlativemost low-functioning
superlativelowest-functioning

Origin of low-functioning

From low + functioning.

Phrases with low-functioning

Questions about low-functioning

What does low-functioning mean?
Low-functioning means functioning or operating at a low level.
What part of speech is low-functioning?
Low-functioning is an adjective.

Words near low-functioning in the dictionary

  1. low-end
  2. low-enriched uranium
  3. low-fat
  4. low-fi
  5. low-floor
  6. low-functioning
  7. low-functioning autism
  8. low-grade
  9. low-grade fever
  10. low-grade fevers
  11. low-growing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: low-functioning (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “low-functioning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/low-functioning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.