base, low, vile mean deserving of contempt because of the absence of higher values.
base stresses the ignoble and may suggest cruelty, treachery, greed, or grossness.
base motives
low may connote crafty cunning, vulgarity, or immorality and regularly implies an outraging of one's sense of decency or propriety.
refused to listen to such low talk
vile, the strongest of these words, tends to suggest disgusting depravity or filth.
a vile remark
Example Sentences
Adjective The apartment has low ceilings. They have a home in the low country. The houses are built on low ground. temperatures as low as 10 below zero He's being treated for low blood pressure. a low dose of medicine She earns a low salary. Demand for his books has remained low. Temperatures were in the low eighties. Our supply of fuel is getting low. See More
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
Middle English lah, low, from Old Norse lāgr; akin to Middle High German læge low, flat; probably akin to Old English licgan to lie
Verb (1) and Noun (2)
Middle English loowen, lowen, going back to Old English hlōwan, going back to Germanic *hlōan- (whence also Old Saxon hlōinga "mooing," Old Low Franconian luon, luogin "to moo, bellow," Old High German luoen), going back to Indo-European *kloh1-, presumed o-grade derivative of a verbal base *kleh1-, *kl̥h1- "call," whence also Germanic *halōn-, *hulōn- "to summon" (whence Old English geholian "to obtain, get," Old Saxon halon, haloian "to fetch, get, bring," Old High German halōn, holōn "to fetch, send for, summon"), Latin calāre "to announce, summon," Umbrian kařetu "(he must) call," Greek kaléō, kaleîn "to call, summon," and perhaps Hittite kalliš- "entice, elicit, evoke"
Note: Old English hlōwan is taken to be a Class VII strong verb (as grōwan "to grow," blōwan "to bloom, blow entry 3"), despite the lack of attested forms outside the present tense. The a vocalism of the Greek and Italic forms is variously explained. The suggestion that the base is *kalh1-, with a primary -a-, eliminates some of the difficulties.
Noun (3)
Middle English, from Old Norse logi, log; akin to Old English lēoht light — more at light