A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

low-brow • low-browed
low-brow —
1
. (of people) not highly intellectual or aesthet-
ically refined: Their desired crowd is not unlike themselves,
being low-brow people who want to see a rock band that plays
loud, fast and powerful. 2. (of things) unsophisticated and not
requiring intellectual effort to be understood: I play video
games, read lowbrow books and tons of comics.
low-browed —
1
. (of a building, doorway, etc.) having a low
entrance: In the face of this rock there appeared something
like the entrance of a low-browed cavern. 2. = low-brow 
1
.:
The media must think the American public is a bunch of low-
browed morons who “rush to the mall” and buy whatever is
placed in front of them.
low house • lower house
low house —said of a place that is not socially or morally
“respectable”: He took to drinking and frequented low houses
of Irish raff.
lower house —lower chamber of parliament (the House of
Representatives in the USA or the House of Commons in Great
Britain): Robert Kelly sponsored the bill in the lower house
and told everyone how great it was.
low man • low man on the totem pole
low man —
1
. (also: short man) a man of short stature: Mr.
Swan was a low man with short legs…. He was very strict in
some respects, never sparing the rod. 2. a man without prin-
ciples or morals: Mrs. Young says he is such a low man he
should not dine with her daughter. 3. smb. who has the least
– 225 –
low man

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important position in an organization: “He was a low man in
the system. It really got boring for him,” Zach’s father said
about his son’s job.
low man on the totem pole — = low man 3: The night security
position at the museum is a low-man-on-the-totem-pole job,
but Larry’s willing to give it a try.
See also: high man on the totem pole / high-up man.