English dictionary — definitions & meanings

lousiness

noun

The state or property of being lousy.

lousy

adj

Very poor in quality; remarkably bad.

lout

noun

A rude, clumsy, or aggressive person, especially a man.

Louvre

name

A famous art museum and former royal palace in Paris, France.

lovable

adj

Easy to love; endearing or adorable.

love

verb

To feel deep affection or care for someone or something.

love language

noun

The way a person most naturally expresses affection and most wants to receive it, such as through kind words, gifts, time together, helpful acts or physical closeness.

lovebird

noun

Any small parrot from one of the nine species within the genus Agapornis. Sometimes they are kept as cage birds and are noted for their affection towards each other.

lovebug

noun

An insect, the honeymoon fly (Plecia nearctica, family Biblionidae), native to Central America and the southeastern United States.

Lovecraft

name

A surname, most famously borne by horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.

loved

adj

Held dear; cherished by someone.

loveful

adj

Full of love; loving.

Lovejoy

name

A surname.

Lovelace

noun

A charming but unprincipled seducer of women; a smooth-talking libertine.

loveless

adj

Without love; lacking affection or romance.

loveliness

noun

The quality of being lovely; beauty or charm.

loveling

noun

A beloved little one; darling; a beloved or lovable thing.

Lovell

name

An Anglo-Norman surname, variant of Lowell; also the name of several towns in the United States.

lovelorn

adj

Sad and longing because of unrequited or lost love.

lovely

adj

Beautiful or pleasing; delightful.

lovemaking

noun

Sexual intercourse, especially between people who love each other.

lover

noun

A person in a romantic or sexual relationship with someone.

loverboy

noun

Informal, often mocking: a young man who is confident with romantic partners.

lovers

adj

Describing two people in a romantic or sexual relationship.

loveship

noun

The act of falling in or making love; courtship.

lovesick

adj

Overwhelmed by longing for someone you love, especially when that love isn't returned.

lovesome

adj

Worthy of love; having qualities that inspire love; lovable.

Lovett

name

An Anglo-Norman surname.

lovey

noun

Informal term of address, especially between actors or close friends.

Lovin

name

A surname, spelling variant of Loven.

loving

noun

The act of feeling or showing love.

lovingly

adv

In a way that shows love or great care.

lovingness

noun

The quality of being loving.

low

adj

Close to the ground or to a base level; not high.

low self-esteem

noun

A persistently poor opinion of your own worth and abilities, showing up as harsh self-criticism, expecting to fail, difficulty accepting praise and putting other people's needs first.

low-hanging fruit

noun

The easiest tasks, targets or gains available, achieved with the least effort. In business it usually means the quick wins a team goes after before tackling anything hard.

low-key

adverb

Slightly, quietly or secretly; used before an admission the speaker is only half owning up to.

lowball

adj

Significantly below the actual cost or value.

lowbrow

adj

Unsophisticated, not intended for an audience of intelligence, education or culture.

lowdown

noun

Informal: the true facts or inside information about something.

Lowe

verb

Slang for "allow" — used to tell someone to let something go or not worry about it.

Lowell

name

An Anglo-Norman surname, variant of Lovell; also a masculine given name and the name of a major city in Massachusetts.

lowen

verb

To lower something, or to become lower.

Lowenstein

name

A surname of German-Jewish origin.

lower

verb

To move something down, or reduce its height, amount, or intensity.

lowercase

verb

To convert (text) to lower case.

lowering

noun

The act of bringing something down or reducing it.

Lowers

name

A surname, patronymic from Lower.

lowery

adj

Dark, gloomy, and threatening, as of weather.

lowing

noun

The deep, sustained sound made by cattle.

lowland

noun

An area which is considered particularly low or lower than surrounding areas.

lowlander

noun

A person who inhabits the Scottish Lowlands.

Lowlands

name

The region of Scotland spanning from the Highland Boundary Fault to the English border, including Edinburgh and Glasgow.

lowlife

noun

A dishonest, disreputable person, especially one thought to have criminal habits.

lowly

adj

Low in rank, importance, or status; humble.

lowry

noun

An open-topped railway boxcar (a variant spelling of "lorry").

lox

noun

Salmon cured in brine and cold-smoked, served raw rather than cooked.

Loxley

name

A surname; also a village near Sheffield, England, and a river there, as well as a village in Warwickshire.

loy

noun

A narrow, single-sided spade traditionally used for digging in Ireland.

loyal

adj

Faithful and unwavering in your support of a person, group, or cause.

loyalism

noun

The property of being a loyalist.

loyalist

noun

A person who stays firmly loyal to an existing government, ruler, or cause, especially during a rebellion or conflict.

loyally

adv

In a faithful, unwavering way.

loyalty

noun

Steady faithfulness and support toward a person, group, or cause.

Lozano

name

A Spanish surname.

lozenge

noun

A thin rhombus, having two acute and two obtuse angles.

Ls

noun

Informal shorthand for a driver's license.

Ltd

abbreviation

Limited: placed after a company name in the UK and many Commonwealth countries to show that it is a private limited company, whose owners are not personally liable for its debts beyond what they have invested.

lu

noun

In linear algebra, a technique that breaks a matrix into a lower-triangular part and an upper-triangular part, used to solve systems of equations efficiently.

Luan

name

A Chinese surname from Mandarin.

Luann

name

A feminine given name formed as a blend of Lu and Ann.

Luanne

name

A feminine given name, a variant of Louanne, formed as a blend of Lu and Anne.

luau

noun

A traditional Hawaiian feast with local dishes, music, and dancing.

lubber

noun

A clumsy or lazy person.

Lubbock

name

A surname; also a city in Texas, United States, named after the surname.

lube

noun

A lubricant, especially oil or grease used to reduce friction.

lubish

adj

Relating to denominations belonging to a money of account formerly in extensive mercantile use in North Germany.

lubric

adj

Having a smooth surface; slippery.

lubricant

noun

A substance, such as oil or grease, applied between surfaces to cut down friction and wear.

lubricated

adj

Treated with a lubricant.

lubrication

noun

The act of applying a lubricant between moving parts to reduce friction and heat.

lubricator

noun

A device that lubricates, that applies lubricant.

lubricious

adj

Smooth and glassy; slippery.

Luca

name

A masculine given name of Italian origin, also used for girls in some cultures.

Lucas

name

A male given name from Latin.

Lucca

name

A province and city in Tuscany, Italy.

Lucci

name

A surname of Italian origin.

luce

noun

A fully grown pike, the freshwater fish.

lucent

adj

Emitting light; shining, luminous.

Lucerne

noun

Alfalfa, a clover-like forage plant grown as feed for livestock.

Luci

name

A feminine given name, a nonstandard spelling of Lucy.

Lucia

name

A feminine given name of Latin origin, a variant of Lucy.

Lucian

name

A masculine given name of Latin origin, rare in the English-speaking world; also the name of an ancient Syrian sophist.

Luciana

name

A feminine given name of Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish origin.

Luciano

name

A surname and masculine given name of Italian origin.

lucid

adj

Clear and easy to understand.

lucidity

noun

The quality of being clear and easy to understand or think through.

lucidness

noun

The property of being lucid; lucidity.

Lucie

name

A feminine given name of Latin origin, a variant of Lucy.

Lucifer

name

A name for Satan or the Devil in Christian tradition.

luciferous

adj

illuminating; providing light.

lucifugous

adj

Having a dislike of light, particularly from the sun.

Lucilla

name

A feminine given name of Latin origin, a diminutive form of Lucia.

Lucille

name

A feminine given name from French, popular in the United States in the 1910s.

Lucinda

name

A feminine given name of Latin origin, derived from Lucia; also a coastal town in Queensland, Australia.

Lucious

name

A masculine given name, a variant of Lucius.

Lucius

name

A masculine given name of Latin origin, from a common Roman praenomen.

luck

noun

The way things happen to work out, especially through chance rather than through anyone's effort or skill.

luckes

name

A surname transferred from the given name.

luckett

name

A surname transferred from the given name.

luckily

adverb

Used to introduce a fortunate fact — "as it happened, fortunately."

luckless

adj

Unsuccessful, in a failing manner.

luckman

name

A surname transferred from the given name.

Lucknow

name

A city in India, the state capital of Uttar Pradesh.

lucks

name

A surname transferred from the given name.

lucky

adjective

Having good fortune; enjoying favourable outcomes without necessarily earning them.

lucrative

adjective

Generating a lot of profit; financially rewarding.

lucre

noun

Money, riches, or wealth, especially when seen as having a corrupting effect or causing greed, or obtained in an underhanded manner.

Lucretia

name

A feminine given name of Latin origin, also the name of a 6th-century BC Roman noblewoman whose story led to the fall of the Roman monarchy.

lucretian

adj

Of or pertaining to Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus, ca. 99–ca. 55 BCE), a 1st-century-BC Roman poet and philosopher.

lucubrate

verb

To work diligently by artificial light; to study at night.

Lucy

noun

Slang term for the drug LSD.

Luddite

noun

A person who is opposed to new technology, or who is unwilling or unable to use it.

ludicrous

adjective

So absurd or unreasonable that it's almost funny.

ludicrousness

noun

The state or quality of being ludicrous.

Ludlow

name

A placename: A town and civil parish with a town council in south Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SO5174).

Ludo

noun

A simple board game where players race coloured tokens around a track based on dice rolls.

Ludovic

name

A male given name, the French form of Louis/Ludwig.

Ludwig

name

A male given name of German origin, meaning roughly "famous warrior."

luella

name

A female given name originating as a coinage, variant of Louella.

luft

noun

A piece moved in front of a king to prevent a back-rank mate.

Luftwaffe

noun

The German air force, most often referred to in the context of the Second World War.

lug

verb

To carry or drag something heavy, usually with effort.

luger

noun

A German semi-automatic pistol widely used by German forces in both World Wars.

luggage

noun

Suitcases, bags, and other containers used to carry a traveller's belongings.

lugging

noun

The act of carrying or dragging something heavy and awkward from one place to another.

lugh

name

A pre-Christian Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past: the son of Cian and Ethniu.

lugsail

noun

A quadrilateral sail bent upon a yard that crosses the mast obliquely; a lug.

lugsome

adj

Heavy and awkward to move around; not easily portable.

lugubrious

adj

Gloomy, mournful or dismal, especially to an exaggerated degree.

lugworm

noun

Any of several species of large marine annelid worm of the genus Arenicola

Lui

name

A Chinese surname, a romanization of a Cantonese family name.

Luigi

name

A male given name, the Italian equivalent of Louis.

Luis

name

A male given name, the Spanish form of Louis.

Luk

name

A surname derived from a Cantonese Chinese family name.

Luka

name

A male given name common across Slavic languages, related to Luke.

Lukas

name

A male given name derived from Latin, a variant of Lucas.

Luke

name

A common male given name, ultimately from Greek, meaning roughly "from Lucania."

lukewarm

adjective

Only slightly warm; neither hot nor cold.

lula

name

A female given name.