From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlowlylow‧ly /ˈləʊli $ ˈloʊ-/ adjective CLASS IN SOCIETYlow in rank, importance, or social class – sometimes used humorously SYN humble He was a lowly assistant gardener. ► Lowly is never an adverb. Low is used as an adverb as well as an adjective: A helicopter flew low over their heads.
Examples from the Corpus
lowly• It tells of a lowly and insignificant civil servant Poprischin, who falls in love with his boss's beautiful daughter Sophie.• And the unused stationery was stacked in a general office for use by lowly clerks.• I had not shone at school but I believed that I could do better than their lowly estimation of my capability.• We should overlook the trampled grass in the square and the lowly origins of the glistening fountain.• We have seen charts that describe the organisational chart of a police authority and yet miss off the lowly police constable.• After many years of declining popularity, the lowly rhubarb is making a comeback in both gourmet and gardening circles.• I soon found that practically everyone had authority over the lowly stewardess.• a lowly trainee• The Clippers already have benefited with three wins against lowly Vancouver, and have two more games left against expansion opponents. 