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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for philistines
Noun
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The four paintings are Joan Miró’s Composition (1953), Maurice Utrillo’s Maison de rendez-vous de chasse de Henri IV, rue Saint-Vincent, Montmartre (1934), Balthus’s Etude pour femme couchée (1948), and Pablo Picasso’s L’Ecuyere et les clowns (1961).—
Daniel Cassady,
ARTnews.com,
6 May 2026 -
Once completed, the $5 million acquisition will ensure the theater has a permanent home, a place where skateboarding clowns and leek-haired onions can continue to frolic and dance for decades to come.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Investors, team owners, venture capitalists and even San Francisco’s mayor engaged in lively conversations about topics such as women’s sports, building out the fan experience and some Bay Area boasts over its allure for sports.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
6 May 2026
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Since January, tech executives, venture capitalists and business leaders have donated roughly $93 million to a nonprofit called Building a Better California, according to data on the secretary of state’s website.—
Queenie Wong,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Hantaviruses are typically spread by rodents such as mice or rats.—
Tanya Lewis,
Scientific American,
13 May 2026
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The residents sheltering in place during the pandemic hit more deer, left more trash that fed more rats, all of which sustained a bigger pack of coyotes over the past year.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Philistines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistines. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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