the q-t, very hush-hush. a quiet place. a place of silence. i.e., shut your damn mouth, as in this is a secret. knowledge not to be repeated.
She admitted that she had a fondness for Justin Timberlake but begged me to keep it on the downlow.
In the closet; hiding the fact that you're gay
"Bob was afraid he would get caught kissing
George, so they had to keep it on the downlow."
1.) A man who secretly partakes in homosexual conduct, but lives a hetrosexual lifestyle. Often married, with childern.
2.) A man who many women believe is gay
"Hey, girl did you hear about Shay?"
"Yeah, I heard to beat the black off of her man when she found out he was a downlow brother!"
This is when a straight male, or self-proclaimed straight cis male, is secretly having gay sex.
Biff: Yo, you know that Donald and Elon are definitely Duding on the downlow!
Pedro: For real, I think they totally 69’d. Their bromance became a BROrgy.
Ugly white boy with missing teeth who has to have a girlfriend and kids by his side to hide the fact that he secretly likes to be bent over and given it hard by another man in the butt. He has been this way for years and has to hide it because he talks so much shit about others and knows everybody will laugh at him. His girlfriends secretly know about this and have tried to remain on their side but he ends up messing up the relationship because he drinks so much and tries to sleep with anybody and everybody. Also has to constantly speak down on other females to make himself feel better because his butthole still hurts from the the big cucumber his girl shoved up his but the night before without using lube.
Oh he takes it in the butt? What a baldy downlow.
Downlow is a slang term with deep roots in hip-hop culture. In its original usage, the phrase simply meant to keep something quiet or secret—to maintain a low profile. The very words “down” and “low” evoke a sense of discretion and intentional concealment, a quality that has long been celebrated in many urban and hip-hop communities.
"Back in ’95, the West Coast producer slipped a demo to his homie at the record spot, whispering, 'Yo, keep this joint on the downlow ‘til we lock in the distribution deal, aight?'"