highbrow

noun

high·​brow ˈhī-ˌbrau̇ How to pronounce highbrow (audio)
: a person who possesses or has pretensions to superior learning or culture
highbrow adjective
highbrowed adjective
highbrowism noun

Examples of highbrow in a Sentence

guests at her elegant dinner parties are a mix of the city's highbrows and captains of industry
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Richie Grainge herself has evolved her stylistic approach from an ostentatious Los Angeleno verve into a look that’s more low-key highbrow. Nick Remsen, CNN, 13 Feb. 2024 No word better sums up our quixotic hopes for the visual, uniting the lowbrow (video-game headsets, van Gogh warehouses), the highbrow (Yayoi Kusama’s infinity rooms, James Turrell’s light installations), and the middlebrow (Alfonso Cuarón’s Steadicam jaunts, James Cameron’s 3-D extravaganzas). Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 13 Nov. 2023 The roll call of films ranges from the highbrow to the decidedly grungy, the menu of a true movie fanatic. Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Sep. 2023 Just dumb enough to work, the haunted-house plot barrels through clichés and comes out the other side with an earnestly lowbrow evisceration of the fake highbrow. Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 16 July 2021 See all Example Sentences for highbrow 

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of highbrow was in 1898

Dictionary Entries Near highbrow

Cite this Entry

“Highbrow.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highbrow. Accessed 17 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

highbrow

noun
high·​brow -ˌbrau̇ How to pronounce highbrow (audio)
: a person who has or pretends to have more learning or culture than others : intellectual
highbrow adjective

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