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
  • 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
  • Sean Goode, a former Canton police sergeant who was working the night of John O'Keefe's death and testified during the first Karen Read trial, allegedly sent dozens of vulgar text messages, according to an independent investigation.
    — Matt Schooley, CBS News, 29 June 2026
Definition of vulgar
Noun
  • 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
  • But many did not, as the 1981 episodes tell the grim tale of a young girl named Sylvia (Barash), who is raped by a stranger wearing a horrifying clown mask.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 3 July 2026
Definition of clown
Adjective
  • Like a more crass, animated Seinfeld, Rocko deals with the mundanities and absurdities of daily life.
    — Skyler Trepel, Entertainment Weekly, 20 June 2026
  • With the games having kicked off, the sport has shown its ineffable power to supplant crass and capitalistic overreach.
    — Emily Olsen, New York Times, 16 June 2026
Definition of crass
Adjective
  • 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
  • When healths were raised during the eighteenth century, it was considered rude or antisocial not to go along with them.
    — Brooke Barbier, PEOPLE, 3 July 2026
Definition of rude
Adjective
  • Room-service delivery robots are already common in hotels across many large Chinese cities.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
  • The most common cat colors are orange, black, cream or gray, but cats can come in unique hues, such as chocolate or lilac.
    — Madeline Gunderson, USA Today, 5 July 2026
Definition of common
Adjective
  • Many alternative plant fibers are shorter, coarser and less elastic than cotton or wool, complicating processing on conventional machinery.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 7 July 2026
  • Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal with butter bits no larger than small peas.
    — Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 7 July 2026
Definition of coarse
Adjective
  • The company remains primarily B2C and is on pace to do $1 billion in gross booking value this year, just for accommodations.
    — Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • The rollout is forecasted to amass $10 million to $15 million in gross sales revenue.
    — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 9 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 12 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 fulcrum

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

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

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
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
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All