as in intellectual
much given to learning and thinking
finally, a TV series that appeals to a highbrow audience
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in nerd
a person with strong intellectual interests
guests at her elegant dinner parties are a mix of the city's highbrows and captains of industry
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of highbrow
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 Dec. 2025
That was broad enough comedy, but highbrow shenanigans can leave people feeling left out.
—David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
Tár is its highbrow counterpart, teasing and celebrating the same personal crisis and class issues.
—Armond White, National Review, 27 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for highbrow
Adjective
In that era, The New Yorker occupied a weirdly contradictory place in the new American nexus of highbrow and lowbrow, tradition and counterculture.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 1 Dec. 2025
That was broad enough comedy, but highbrow shenanigans can leave people feeling left out.
—David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
Noun
The roll call of films ranges from the highbrow to the decidedly grungy, the menu of a true movie fanatic.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023
Tár is its highbrow counterpart, teasing and celebrating the same personal crisis and class issues.
—Armond White, National Review, 27 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for highbrow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highbrow
Adjective
-
Tangible cultural heritage consists of physical elements, like monuments, artifacts, and historic sites, while intangible cultural heritage consists of intellectual elements, like customs, traditions, and languages.—
Kristin Houser,
Big Think,
29 Jan. 2026
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In each place, searching for traces of Katharine Blodgett’s intellectual and personal footprint.—
Natalia Sánchez Loayza,
Scientific American,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Frye believes that cerebral folate deficiency is present in many children with autism.—
Jon Hamilton,
NPR,
22 Jan. 2026
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In Aquarius, this manifests in a very real, social or cerebral way.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The fact that Katherine had been institutionalized may have tainted her scholarly reputation.—
Margaret Talbot,
New Yorker,
26 Jan. 2026
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Brown-Grier argued that this knowledge gap is not just a scholarly problem but a governance one.—
Marybeth Gasman,
Forbes.com,
16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highbrow. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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