unloftyadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈlɒfti/, U.S. /ˌənˈlɔfdi/, /ˌənˈlɑfdi/ Not lofty (in various senses); esp. not high-minded or grand; unpretentious.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > vertical extent > lack of height > [adjective]
shortc888
lowc1175
base1590
lowly1695
unlofty1729
squat1757
strunty1808
unhigh1811
dwarf1880
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > low or subordinate
wokec897
lessOE
lesserc1225
secondary1386
lowerc1390
subalternate?a1425
subsidiary1603
pedaneous1617
subordinate1620
undergraduate1655
subdominant1826
unlofty1869
lower case1917
1729 M. Browne Piscatory Eclogues Ep. Ded. sig. bv Nor less delightful shou'd th' unlofty Lay Be then esteem'd, that sings of Fishy Lakes.
1790 A. Seward Lett. (1811) II. 384 [They] wore their dark hair in reverse curls upon their naturally unlofty foreheads.
1861 Ecclesiologist 22 322 The feeling of unlofty spaciousness, and the foreign tone which were in the architect's mind.
1869 Temple Bar July 458 Tennyson's feminine, unlofty way of looking at things.
1920 Century Mar. 577/2 This accepted and not unlofty moral code..is the force behind our idealism.
1983 Princeton Alumni Weekly 20 Apr. 12/1 A sampling of the generally unlofty off-topics included: ‘Those who think must govern those who toil’.
2005 Times (Nexis) 17 Mar. (Features section) 27 Unlofty as viewers' opinions may have been about second-hand car salesmen, cameras showed the staff..dragging the trade's reputation to a new low.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1729