Word.ws English Dictionary

on the downlow

on the downlow is the alternative form of on the down-low.

Meaning of on the down-low

Prepositional phrase

  1. (US, euphemistic, idiomatic, slang) In secret or nearly so, on a need-to-know basis.
    • I'll tell you, but keep it on the down-low.
  2. (US, euphemistic, idiomatic, slang) Secretly sleeping with someone other than one's partner.
    • And keep it on the down low
      Nobody has to know1995 December 11, “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)”performed by R. Kelly
  3. (African-American Vernacular) Of a man, publicly identifying as heterosexual but secretly having sex with men.

Questions about on the downlow

What is on the downlow the alternative form of?
On the downlow is the alternative form of on the down-low.

Words near on the downlow in the dictionary

  1. on the docket
  2. on the door
  3. on the dot
  4. on the double
  5. on the down-low
  6. on the downlow
  7. on the drum
  8. on the dry
  9. on the earie
  10. on the edge
  11. on the edge of

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the downlow (page history and authors); on the down-low (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: “on the downlow.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_downlow. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.