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
Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
And well before Telluride co-founder Tom Luddy’s death in 2023, Huntsinger has been flying solo and booking a strong lineup of highbrow awards contenders, classics, and idiosyncratic discoveries.
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 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
That combination of highbrow admiration and crowd-pleasing shocks is a treasured feat in horror.
—Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
And well before Telluride co-founder Tom Luddy’s death in 2023, Huntsinger has been flying solo and booking a strong lineup of highbrow awards contenders, classics, and idiosyncratic discoveries.
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 28 Aug. 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
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Biederman’s against-the-grain distaste for excess capital isn’t just intellectual or financial.—
Allie Garfinkle,
Fortune,
17 Oct. 2025
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Advertisement The intellectual underpinnings to the circular economy approach have been around for decades.—
Justin Worland,
Time,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Comprising a mix of anxiety, cerebral tangents, and a dash of absurdist whimsy, Nancherla’s first full-length special Hopeful Potato, directed by Eliza Skinner, premieres December 15.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
17 Oct. 2025
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My take on Don’t Think is that becoming overly cerebral, stuck exclusively in my head, inhibits flow.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Check back on the second Monday of every month for a new puzzle built on clues connected to scholarly articles available via JSTOR.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
14 Oct. 2025
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Rarely does a 29-page scholarly paper merit the attention of top-level executives, but every business leader should be familiar with a recent study from OpenAI.—
Geoff Colvin,
Fortune,
10 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highbrow. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
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