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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of highbrow
Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 29 Jan. 2026
The silver lining is that the Academy’s tastes tend to skew more highbrow than the precursors’, so there’s a chance the Palme d’Or winner will enjoy a warmer reception on nomination morning.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
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
And while the past tenants of Royal Lodge exuded an elegant lore for the highbrow interests of a viscountess, the Jeffrey Epstein–associated Andrew is shrouded in such scandal that if Royal Lodge had been put on the real estate market, the listing price might have knocked down a few million.
—Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 29 Jan. 2026
The silver lining is that the Academy’s tastes tend to skew more highbrow than the precursors’, so there’s a chance the Palme d’Or winner will enjoy a warmer reception on nomination morning.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 16 Jan. 2026
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
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The Paralympics feature athletes with eight kinds of physical disabilities (including limb deficiency and impaired muscle power) as well as vision and intellectual impairment.—
Rachel Treisman,
NPR,
6 Mar. 2026
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And there is no setting more emblematic of freedom—and its discontents—than the campus, where tenure is supposed to protect the intellectual liberty of faculty and students living independently for the first time try on new ideas and identities.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Later, as the emotional Moon opposes cerebral Mercury, feelings and words pull in different directions, so listening becomes the bridge.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Mar. 2026
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Your 11th House of Connected Communities calls for review as cerebral Mercury goes retrograde, so group efforts may stall around demands for clearer roles.—
Tarot.com,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The most careful scholarly estimate suggests that at least 20 million Americans have served time in prison or lived under felony supervision, or both.—
Kevin B. Smith,
The Conversation,
2 Mar. 2026
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In December, Summers was dealt a lifetime ban from the American Economic Association, a nonprofit scholarly association dedicated to economic research, over his Epstein ties.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highbrow. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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