lowbrow 1 of 2

adjective

ˈlō-ˌbrau̇ How to pronounce lowbrow (audio)
Definition of lowbrownext
as in vulgar
lacking in refinement or good taste at office gatherings his lowbrow humor often embarrassed his coworkers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

lowbrow

2 of 2

noun

ˈlō-ˌbrau̇ How to pronounce lowbrow (audio)
as in philistine
a person who is chiefly interested in material comfort and is hostile or indifferent to art and culture the town's lowbrows think that the school's music program is a complete waste of taxpayers' money

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of lowbrow
Adjective
The tension between highbrow and lowbrow comedy, and what is deemed acceptable by image-conscious Black middle-class audiences, continues to ignite fierce debate—nearly a century after Stepin Fetchit first appeared on-screen. — Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 2026 What is high art and what is lowbrow? — Betsy Golden Kellem, JSTOR Daily, 18 Mar. 2026
Noun
Executives at NBCUniversal frame Bravo as a brand that represents a particular type of lowbrow-highbrow reality TV, and that even if the channel vanished, the brand could live on. — Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 9 Jan. 2026 That balance of high- and lowbrow is absent in The Abandons. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for lowbrow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lowbrow
  1. vulgar
  2. clown
  3. crass
  4. rude
  5. common
  6. coarse
  7. gross
Adjective
  • Lonnie is loud, obnoxious, and vulgar in ways that rankle traditional golfers.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 16 July 2026
  • Suki, a vocal Black woman with an at times vulgar persona, whereas Althoff, a white woman, gained a reputation as an awkward, seemingly timid interviewer on her The Really Good Podcast.
    — Meagan Jordan, VIBE.com, 10 July 2026
Definition of vulgar
Noun
  • Perhaps most astonishingly, the movie manages to make creepy clowns — that shopworn trope — genuinely frightening again.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026
  • The group demonstrated near the Washington Monument and was met by a few counter protestors, one of which played clown music throughout the majority of the demonstration.
    — Antonio Pequeño IV, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
Definition of clown
Adjective
  • Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a crass and charismatic oil executive who’s called upon to help save the world after his company nearly destroys it.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 13 July 2026
  • Like a more crass, animated Seinfeld, Rocko deals with the mundanities and absurdities of daily life.
    — Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 20 June 2026
Definition of crass
Adjective
  • Only one guy, Timothy Piatkowski, a researcher involved with the Games, suggested that my question might be a little rude.
    — Zach Helfand, New Yorker, 13 July 2026
  • It’s considered rude to answer one’s phone on public transport or in a restaurant, for example.
    — Jessica Kozuka, Travel + Leisure, 4 July 2026
Definition of rude
Adjective
  • The movie can also be seen in more common digital formats for less.
    — Tania Azhang, Sacbee.com, 18 July 2026
  • Because the most common objection to the argument turns out to be the argument's best evidence.
    — Sachin H. Jain, Forbes.com, 18 July 2026
Definition of common
Adjective
  • Stick the cuttings so the ends are about 3 inches deep in containers of potting soil or coarse vermiculite.
    — Tom MacCubbin, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 July 2026
  • Homemade brownies are topped with a rich, smooth cheesecake layer and baked with coarse crumbles of Oreo cookies.
    — Catherine Jessee, Southern Living, 10 July 2026
Definition of coarse
Adjective
  • Among them are efforts to impose a 50% tax on a private detention operator’s gross receipts from ICE and a requirement for local agencies to release records of 911 calls from private detention facilities.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 17 July 2026
  • Police arrested a man Wednesday on suspicion of a felony hit-and-run resulting in death and gross vehicular manslaughter for allegedly running over a man who was trying to stop him from fleeing the site of a vehicle collision, authorities said.
    — Caelyn Pender, Mercury News, 16 July 2026
Definition of gross

Browse Nearby Words

lowbred
lowbrow
lowbrows
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lowbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lowbrow. Accessed 21 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on lowbrow

Nglish: Translation of lowbrow for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of dog days

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All