Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Not intellectual or sophisticated; characteristic of a person who lacks cultivation or intellectual tastes: Used to describe things, activities, or preferences considered to be simple, unsophisticated, or appealing to a mass audience without requiring deep thought or cultural knowledge.

2. Noun:

   • A person who is uninterested in or lacks appreciation for intellectual or cultural pursuits: Refers to an individual whose tastes and interests are considered non-intellectual or mainstream.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • The film was criticized for its lowbrow humor, relying on slapstick and crude jokes.
  • He prefers lowbrow entertainment like reality TV shows over art films.

• Noun:

  • The literary critic dismissed the popular author's fans as lowbrows.
  • She didn't consider herself a lowbrow, but she simply enjoyed simple, fun movies.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in a somewhat critical or dismissive way to contrast with "highbrow" culture. It can imply a value judgment about the quality or sophistication of cultural products or audiences.
  • The debate centered on whether the festival was becoming too lowbrow to be taken seriously.

Variants and Related Words

• Highbrow (adj/noun): Intellectual or sophisticated; a person with such tastes. (The opposite of lowbrow).
  • The magazine caters to a highbrow audience.
• Middlebrow (adj/noun): Of intermediate intellectual or cultural appeal; neither highbrow nor lowbrow.
  • The novel was a middlebrow bestseller, accessible yet somewhat literary.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Unsophisticated, uncultured, philistine, anti-intellectual, mainstream, popular.
• Noun: Philistine, anti-intellectual.

Antonyms

• Adjective/Noun: Highbrow, intellectual, cultivated, sophisticated.

Adjective

1. characteristic of a person who is not cultivated or does not have intellectual tastes
   • lowbrow tastes

Noun

1. a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits