low-key

1. 1
   adjective

   Restrained and subtle in manner or style, deliberately avoiding anything that would draw attention.

   The company announced its new product in a deliberately low-key fashion.

   She prefers low-key gatherings to big, flashy celebrations.

   Similarunderstated, subdued, restrained, quiet, modest

   Oppositeflashy, showy, flamboyant, ostentatious

   Note

   The restraint moves from the picture to people, places and events: a low-key performance, a low-key restaurant, a low-key manner. It is often praise. Time in 1997 said David Blaine's "deceptively low-key, ultracool manner" amazed spectators more than razzle-dazzle would have. The hyphen stays before a noun. It compares with more and most: more low-key, never lower-key.

2. 2
   adverbcolloquialCanadaUS

   Somewhat or rather, used to express something in a mild, partial, or understated way.

   I'm low-key obsessed with that new show everyone keeps talking about.

   Honestly, the dinner was low-key the best meal I've had all year.

   Similarkinda, somewhat, secretly, quietly

   Oppositehigh-key

   Note

   A hedge from casual North American speech, chiefly in Canada and the US. It sits just before the word it softens, as in low-key salty or low-key obsessed. It can even soften a verb: "I low-key think it's an N.Y.U. production." Writers spell it both hyphenated and open. A feeling admitted mildly is often a feeling kept quiet, so it shades easily into the "on the down-low" adverb, and context decides between "somewhat" and "secretly."

3. 3
   adverbslang

   In a secretive or understated manner; quietly and without drawing attention.

   The two firms negotiated low-key for months before announcing the merger.

   She slipped out of the party low-key to avoid a long goodbye.

   Similarfurtively

   Oppositeopenly, publicly

   Note

   Slang for doing something out of sight. It is closer to furtively than to the mild "kind of" hedge. That hedge softens a word; this adverb describes how an action is carried out. It belongs to the same casual register as on the down-low. In formal writing, quietly, discreetly or in secret say the same thing safely.

4. 4
   adjective

   Dark in overall tone, characterized by deep shadows and muted colors.

   The film's low-key lighting gave every scene a sense of dread.

   Her low-key photographs rely on a single dim light source.

   Similardark, moody, shadowy, somber

   Oppositehigh-key

   Note

   A photographer's word for an image built mostly from shadow. Victor Keppler, writing in Popular Photography in 1942, offered the classic example: a black cat in a coal cellar. He named its favorite use as portraits of celebrities and theatrical personalities, people who "demand either dignity or drama." Its opposite is high-key, the bright, pale image. From this studio term comes the everyday "understated" sense.

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