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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Recent Examples of highbrow
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
But in the pandemic’s wake, the chief human resources officer has morphed into a highbrow position, working with CEOs to drive attraction and retention among a myriad of other talent operations.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2023
Margot Robbie, playing Barbie, is clad in an exact re-creation of the original Barbie’s outfit; Gerwig is clearly thinking about the interplay between highbrow and lowbrow, between art and commercialism.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for highbrow
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
But in the pandemic’s wake, the chief human resources officer has morphed into a highbrow position, working with CEOs to drive attraction and retention among a myriad of other talent operations.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2023
Margot Robbie, playing Barbie, is clad in an exact re-creation of the original Barbie’s outfit; Gerwig is clearly thinking about the interplay between highbrow and lowbrow, between art and commercialism.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2022
See All Example Sentences for highbrow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highbrow
Adjective
-
On the pages of National Review and, after 1966, on Firing Line, Buckley pioneered the do-your-own-research rhetorical style: whataboutism and verbal misdirections that often slipped into intellectual nihilism.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
24 June 2025
-
Her wide-ranging symphony of essays on Black womanhood is a treat—incisive, intellectual, intimate, funny, and formally inventive.—
Gabrielle Bellot,
Literary Hub,
24 June 2025
Adjective
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But these cerebral dispatches realize their audience often experiences the work communally and tends to enjoy it most when accompanied by flowing synths and insistent drums.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
-
Expect subversion, something a little weird, traditional craft turned cerebral.—
Leah Dolan,
CNN Money,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
The Schomburg Center has long been the heart of Harlem’s ongoing Renaissance—from the 1920s until the present moment —the neighborhood teems with an energy of artistic and scholarly abundance that, in turn, shapes political and cultural discourse not just in New York City but across the country.—
Essence,
Essence,
19 June 2025
-
Much of the design was informed by a 25-page scholarly paper on how to govern such a city, written by a professor of sociology specifically for the show.—
Brande Victorian,
HollywoodReporter,
17 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highbrow. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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