low on the totem pole
low on the totem pole adjective: accorded relatively little importance.
Adjective
low on the totem pole (comparative lower on the totem pole, superlative lowest on the totem pole)
- Accorded relatively little importance.
- Gaston said, however, that the boycott would not substantially affect Negroes because they are "so low on the totem pole."1965, 7th of April, Washington Observer, King Defends Alabama Boycott, Answers Critics
- He's new to the Pianta syndicate. I think he's still the low man on the totem pole.2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport
Antonyms of low on the totem pole
Forms of low on the totem pole
| comparative | lower on the totem pole |
|---|---|
| superlative | lowest on the totem pole |
Origin of low on the totem pole
Derived from totem poles, traditional sculptures of wood made by American Indians, usually with several figures carved one above the other. The vertical order was mistakenly perceived by the non-Indians to correspond with the figures' rank of importance.
Questions about low on the totem pole
- What does low on the totem pole mean?
- Low on the totem pole means accorded relatively little importance.
- What part of speech is low on the totem pole?
- Low on the totem pole is an adjective.
Words near low on the totem pole in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: low on the totem pole (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-low on the totem pole.ogg.
Cite this entry: “low on the totem pole.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/low_on_the_totem_pole. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.