as in vulgar
lacking in refinement or good taste
at office gatherings his lowbrow humor often embarrassed his coworkers
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of lowbrow
Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2025
What Should the New Name Be? Clearly, the goal was a name that felt neither too highbrow nor too lowbrow, as restaurants have been trending toward an unstuffy seriousness for decades.
—Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 10 July 2024
Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher masterpiece embraced its lowbrow status with its matter-of-fact title and unapologetic gore, likely seen by many as a cheap attempt to ride shock value into a quick box office gold mine.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 Sep. 2024
To go and see the theater one day, and then go to a Disney park, one is highbrow and one is lowbrow and that’s elitist.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for lowbrow
Adjective
The song is a cheeky touch, but also a nod to Daryle’s milieu: a lowbrow America of swamp tours, chain motels, and motorcycle shops.
—Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2025
What Should the New Name Be? Clearly, the goal was a name that felt neither too highbrow nor too lowbrow, as restaurants have been trending toward an unstuffy seriousness for decades.
—Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 10 July 2024
Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher masterpiece embraced its lowbrow status with its matter-of-fact title and unapologetic gore, likely seen by many as a cheap attempt to ride shock value into a quick box office gold mine.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 Sep. 2024
To go and see the theater one day, and then go to a Disney park, one is highbrow and one is lowbrow and that’s elitist.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for lowbrow
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lowbrow
Adjective
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As deadly wildfires raged across Southern California in January, a Los Angeles city official lamented to the city council and others how they were forced to listen to hateful, vulgar language from some members of the public.—
BrieAnna J. Frank,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
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Her choice to respond by telling me to 'shut the f*** up' and to 'calm my p*****' was vulgar, dismissive and escalated the issue entirely.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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The idea that women should lose the right to vote is shaping up to be more than a crass punchline or a dystopian viewpoint, but one that Pete Hegseth, a member of the president’s cabinet, appears to agree with.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
12 Aug. 2025
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To achieve this encyclopedic scope, Joyce opened every door between the divine thought of Thomas Aquinas and crass Dublin newspaper ads.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Think scarf head coverings for women in Catholic churches, shoe removal for all to enter a mosque, yarmulkes required for men in synagogues, but also pay attention to the cultural norms away from houses of worship and behave accordingly to avoid being considered a rude American.—
Jenny Peters,
Oc Register,
4 Aug. 2025
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The Reddit community nearly unanimously branded the boyfriend as rude and tone-deaf.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
3 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Moonshot founder Vidhya Ramalingam believes this escalation from online abuse to in-person stalking is a common pattern — and one that security teams can learn to anticipate.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Aug. 2025
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The graphic below shows his most common line-breaking passes in La Liga last season.—
Pol Ballús,
New York Times,
9 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Carnival Midway’s cast of trapeze artists, aerialists, jugglers and clowns perform every hour on the half hour, starting at 1:30 p.m. (on weekends, the show kicks off at 11:30a.m.).—
Alex Schechter,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Aug. 2025
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There’s a patient, dressed as a clown, who has his arm drilled into.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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As crude oil inventories begin to build around the world, oil prices should fall.—
Matt Randolph,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
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The other measures the company is proposing include improvements to its fluidized catalytic-cracking units, which help turn crude oil into gasoline, and installing carbon monoxide analyzers to ensure equipment is running efficiently.—
Noelle Phillips,
Denver Post,
16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Covering the soil with a ½ inch of coarse sand or fine gravel can also discourage egg laying.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
30 July 2025
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The attachment comes with four ice molds, an ice cup, and two different shaving blades (fine and coarse) that attach to the cup.—
Mark Marino,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Lowbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lowbrow. Accessed 22 Aug. 2025.
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