Lo or low?
lo is an interjection meaning “look, see, behold (in an imperative sense)”; low is an adjective meaning “Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane…”. Use lo as an interjection and low as an adjective. They sound the same (/ləʊ/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) low is about 18 times as common as lo.
What is the difference between lo and low?
| lo | low | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | interjection, adjective, noun, particle | adjective, noun, adverb, verb |
| Meaning | look, see, behold (in an imperative sense) | Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a lesser elevation, closer to sea level (especially near the sea), than other… A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc) |
| Example | Ayo, send me your lo | standing on low ground |
| Forms | 'lo, 'llo | lower, lowest |
| Pronunciation | /ləʊ/ /loʊ/ /ləʉ/ | /ˈləʊ/ /ˈlo/ /ˈlou/ |
| In writing | 12 times per million words | 214 times per million words |
Sources: lo and low in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of lo and low
lo
- 1
look, see, behold (in an imperative sense)
- 2
informalInformal spelling of low
- 3
Clipping of hello
- 4
Clipping of location
Ayo, send me your lo
- 5
Alternative form of lol
- 6
Initialism of local oscillator
- 7
Alternative form of lo (“hello”)
- 8
Abbreviation of low (“low gear or low range”)
low
- 1
Situated close to, or even below, the ground or another normal reference plane; not high or lofty
standing on low ground
- 2
A low point or position, literally (as, a depth) or figuratively (as, a nadir, a time when things are at their worst, least, minimum, etc)
You have achieved a new low in behavior, Frank
- 3
Close to the ground
- 4
To moo
The cattle were lowing
- 5
ScotlandUKA flame; fire; blaze
- 6
ScotlandUKTo burn; to blaze
Driest wood will eithest low
- 7
Alternative form of 'low
- 8
UKUScolloquialTo allow; to acknowledge or admit
But louing well, and meaning not amisse, / He lowde him scope, without suspect of ill, / To come and goe, to vse the house as hys, / A perfect showe of very great good wyll
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, lo or low?
lo appears 12 times per million words; low 214 times per million words.
lo 12 times per million wordslow 214 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search lo vs low?
“lo vs low” is searched about 10 times a month on Bing (Google reports it together with close variants, so it has no figure of its own) in the United States.
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.