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View synonyms for low blow

low blow

noun

  1. (in boxing) an illegal blow below the waist of an opponent.
  2. an unfair or unsportsmanlike criticism or attack.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of low blow1

First recorded in 1950–55
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Idioms and Phrases

An unscrupulous attack; an insult. For example, When my roommate moved out without a word of warning, leaving me to pay the entire rent, that was a low blow , or She wanted to win the argument, but bringing up his failed marriage was a low blow . This term alludes to the illegal practice of hitting an opponent in boxing below the belt . [c. 1950]
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Example Sentences

The real low blow is in the official communiqué in which the Swedish academicians justify their choice.

Violet walks all over her two youngest daughters, but Barbara matches her, low blow for low blow.

He later apologized, saying it was a “low blow and I take it back.”

And with this low blow to main rival Hillary Clinton in the final debate, it showed.

“Race to me is a low blow that people just use when they have nothing real to hate on,” she told the magazine.

He had no idea I wasn't interested in his other hanky-panky, but could tell I had had a low blow.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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