Are you a low-key annoying parent? Aren’t we all? The phrase “low-key” expresses a lackluster feeling that’s analogous to “sort of." Depending on where you look, low-key can be spelled ...

Are you a low-key annoying parent? Aren’t we all? The phrase “low-key” expresses a lackluster feeling that’s analogous to “sort of." Depending on where you look, low-key can be spelled ...

But while old low-key is an adjective (a low-key party, that party was low-key), new lowkey is an adverb. It's not even that new—it shows up in Urban Dictionary from 2009: ...

Low-key, an adjective meaning muted or restrained, has been around for the better part of a century. But for some years now, the hipper among us have also been using it as an adverb.