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
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as in utilitarian
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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as in materialistic
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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as in uncultured
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of philistine
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
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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Medium Embroidered Vela Bag Crafted from rich leather with vibrant floral embroidery, the Vela bag is not only elegant—but highly utilitarian, too.Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 20 Dec. 2024
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The ReNew Transit Backpack $95 Everlane Technically from the men’s section, this backpack is a win for anyone who loves spacious exterior pockets and a utilitarian vibe.Laura Lajiness Kaupke, Glamour, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Neither one can entirely remain an island, though Vadim veritably cultivates an estrangement from his stuffy, materialistic son Peter (Vladimir Vdovichenkov).Guy Lodge, Variety, 12 Dec. 2024
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Ninety percent of Americans surveyed by the Center for Biological Diversity agree that the holidays should be less materialistic.Drew Gerber, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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For their part, the Russians considered the Mizrahim—indeed, most Israelis—loud, uncultured boors.Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024
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Inserting two distinct forms of the gene into clusters of uncultured cells, the team discovered that the form of NOVA1 found in H. neanderthalensis created bumpier blobs of brain tissue when cultured, while the form of NOVA1 found in H. sapiens created smooth, spherical clumps.Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 1 Mar. 2023
Adjective
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But that decline can be understood as a pragmatic understanding of the difficulties of repelling an invading force.Anton Grushetskyi, Foreign Affairs, 30 Dec. 2024
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Church, Combs, discuss their plan for assistance following the concert Church and Combs are taking a pragmatic approach to providing the highest quality service to their community by splitting the event's proceeds.Marcus K. Dowling, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Ever since the United States liberated Kuwait from the avaricious clutches of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War of 1990-91, the Kuwaitis have supported U.S. priorities in the Middle East and elsewhere.Martin Indyk, Foreign Affairs, 14 Feb. 2022
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Stalin’s apprenticeship in high-stakes diplomacy had shown him to be cunning but also opportunistic, avaricious, obdurate.Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2017
Adjective
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What Should the New Name Be? Clearly, the goal was a name that felt neither too highbrow nor too lowbrow, as restaurants have been trending toward an unstuffy seriousness for decades.Jesse David Fox, Vulture, 10 July 2024
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Tobe Hooper’s 1974 slasher masterpiece embraced its lowbrow status with its matter-of-fact title and unapologetic gore, likely seen by many as a cheap attempt to ride shock value into a quick box office gold mine.Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 21 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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The condition for the survival of an acquisitive society is twofold.Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Dec. 2011
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The synergies that acquisitive CEOs routinely promise often fail to materialize, but in this instance there was never any realistic prospect for synergies.Martin Fridson, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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All that’s there is an artless effort to provoke outrage — Tony Hinchcliffe with the world’s strongest Boston accent.Joe Berkowitz, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024
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The effort of analyzing this video, a piece of artless misinformation, was beneath Abu Hamdan, who has dedicated himself to unveiling the violence of the world through the medium of sound.Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 15 July 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near philistine
Cite this Entry
“Philistine.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/philistine. Accessed 4 Jan. 2025.
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