as in materialist
a person who is chiefly interested in material comfort and is hostile or indifferent to art and culture
the town's philistines who think that spending on the arts is a waste of taxpayers' money
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in utilitarian
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
2
as in materialistic
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
3
as in uncultured
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of philistine
Judith Thurman, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
The Childhood of a Leader (titled after a Sartre short story), their style indicated a possible philistine route.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
In pre-Revolutionary Russia some critics derided his compositions as bourgeois work aimed at philistine audiences.
—Barrymore Laurence Scherer, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022
There was no reason — other than bankrupt ideology and blinkered philistine pig-ignorance — not to go hog-wild with stimulus, say, $2 trillion for starters.
—Ryan Cooper, The Week, 10 Jan. 2022
Adjective
But philistine incomprehension never deterred Stein.
—Judith Thurman, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
The Childhood of a Leader (titled after a Sartre short story), their style indicated a possible philistine route.
—Armond White, National Review, 3 Jan. 2025
In pre-Revolutionary Russia some critics derided his compositions as bourgeois work aimed at philistine audiences.
—Barrymore Laurence Scherer, WSJ, 3 Aug. 2022
There was no reason — other than bankrupt ideology and blinkered philistine pig-ignorance — not to go hog-wild with stimulus, say, $2 trillion for starters.
—Ryan Cooper, The Week, 10 Jan. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for philistine
Adjective
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This iconic piece of outerwear is practically synonymous with French culture, despite its utilitarian origins.—
Lane Nieset,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Light-blocking curtains can easily look utilitarian or heavy in an otherwise airy and bright living room.—
Kelly Dawson,
Architectural Digest,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The pursuit of happiness, both materialistic and spiritual, is a recurring theme in my feature films.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
19 Jan. 2026
-
More involved in things that aren’t materialistic.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The brand has come to signify rugged, often uncultured New York grit, its actual working-class relevance and celebration in seminal rap lyrics feeding internet snarkers’ stereotypes of city dwellers.—
Craig Jenkins,
Vulture,
21 Jan. 2026
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Just the opposite: The slipup shows how culture pervades even my uncultured moments.—
Harmon Siegel,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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That balance of high- and lowbrow is absent in The Abandons.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Newsom’s first major pragmatic effort was a homelessness measure called Care Not Cash, which replaced much of the county’s cash welfare with mental-health, substance-abuse, and housing services.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 Feb. 2026
-
Ask Maschler what keeps him anchored to Boca Raton, and his answer is both personal and pragmatic.—
Jason Phillips,
USA Today,
31 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Harlan has an avaricious family, each member of which has something to gain from his death.—
Anna Russell,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
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What Netanyahu wants is not this peace deal or avaricious annexations, but to stay in power.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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By contrast, Erika is a vamp, a woman whose wardrobe encompasses high fashion and BDSM — maybe this is what makes Erika choose him to be her assistant, just as her icy, dominatrix cool appeals to the refreshingly artless Elliot.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Atop a tower near Bryant Park, reachable by two service-elevator rides and down a concrete hallway, his temporary workspace is, apart from his own presence, pretty artless.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
23 Dec. 2025
Adjective
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Yet, even for those long-ensconced in homes, the calming tones continue to be both popular and practical.—
R. Daniel Foster,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The panel concluded the order was both overly broad and impermissibly vague, raising constitutional and practical concerns.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Philistine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistine. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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