philistines

noun

plural of philistine
as in materialists
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

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for philistines
  1. clowns
  2. capitalists
  3. rats
Noun
  • Jean pays tribute to the oversized trousers worn by rodeo clowns.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The gasoline shortage has become such a feature of daily life that even clowns at Moscow’s circus have cracked jokes about it.
    — Ivan Nechepurenko, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of clowns
Noun
  • Thompson then warned that San Francisco venture capitalists like Jones want to sunset federal programs and privatize Social Security.
    — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Venture capitalists will tell you, obviously an era where series A, first round are being done at billion dollar free money valuations in companies that have no revenue, may not even have defined a business model.
    — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of capitalists
Noun
  • Seabird colonies have declined because of habitat loss and invasive species like rats.
    — Lauren Sommer, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Knudsen told the publication the burrows have grown where the nuts are left, and that Green City Market vendors have seen rats while setting up.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of rats
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.

Browse Nearby Words

philistine
philistines
philistinism
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Cite this Entry

“Philistines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistines. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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