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
Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
Monica doubts this highbrow Brit is capable of understanding Reggie’s rags-to-riches-to-infamy tale.
—Judy Berman, Time, 20 Feb. 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
At the time, Bravo was forging a new identity in reality programming after years as a niche cable network that aired highbrow art films, opera and ballet.
—Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
Monica doubts this highbrow Brit is capable of understanding Reggie’s rags-to-riches-to-infamy tale.
—Judy Berman, Time, 20 Feb. 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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This is where Fauci’s lack of analysis, intellectual curiosity, and humility becomes more obvious and infuriating.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
8 May 2026
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The juxtapositions of text and image, which strongly suggest the widening distance between mother and daughter, build in emotional and intellectual power over the film’s ninety-minute duration.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
Adjective
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For instance, the love planet Venus spends the first half of the month in the curious, playful and loquacious sign of Gemini, making attraction more cerebral than physical.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
8 May 2026
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Caleb Downs would be fun on the offensive side of the ball, most likely as a receiver, because of his cerebral nature.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
7 May 2026
Adjective
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About half of the ensembles were created within the past decade, which relays an of-the-times show versus an overly scholarly one.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
Footwear News,
4 May 2026
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Your confidence can grow when scientists have performed a bunch of related research that’s gone through peer review, been published in scholarly journals and mostly points in the same direction.—
Jeffrey A. Lee,
The Conversation,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highbrow. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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